What sights can we see in Tartu along Struve Geodetic Arc?

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?

• Download the orienteering map to your smart device, print it or get it from the front desk of the UT main building (Ülikooli 18), UT Museum (Lossi 25), the Delta academic and research building (Narva mnt 18), Biomedicum (Ravila 19), Chemicum (Ravila 14a), Physicum (W. Ostwaldi 1), the Institute of Technology (Nooruse 1), the UT library (W. Struve 1) or the academic buildings at Lossi 36 or Vanemuise 46.
• Before you start, make sure you know the map symbols.
• When you arrive at a checkpoint, scan the QR code with your phone. Make sure your phone has an app for reading QR codes. If not, download it.
• The course passes residential areas and runs in streets, green areas and other public places. Be careful in traffic! There are several objects on the course (e.g. fences, walls, flowerbeds or hedges) that you are not allowed to cross. Similarly, do not enter private yards that are marked respectively. On the map, “no entry” areas are marked by the thick black line (fence, wall) and moss green colour.

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.