From 12 June to 21 September, all University of Tartu staff and students and everyone else are welcome to complete the orienteering course “Exploring Tartu along Struve Geodetic Arc”.
On the initiative of Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve (1793–1864), a chain of survey triangulations stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea was established in 1816 to 1855 to determine the shape and size of the Earth. The arc of 2,822 km from north to south passed the territory of modern-day Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. Struve started measuring the arc from Tartu Old Observatory and the Tartu meridian remained the basis for all the work.
The Tartu meridian is located 26° 43′ 12’’ east of the well-known Greenwich meridian. In 2005, the Struve Geodetic Arc was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The orienteering course provides an opportunity to explore 15 sights in the vicinity of the arc.
The university’s orienteering course of 2025 was created by University of Tartu Associate Professor in Estonian Geography Taavi Pae and Research Secretary of the UT Museum Ken Ird.
How to start orienteering?
Who wins?
The orienteering is a recreational sports event for the whole university community during which several University of Tartu gifts will be raffled among all registered participants. To give chance a chance, let us know that you went orienteering.