Welcome to Stories!

The Story Trail (length – 1.2 km) is designed to explore the picturesque landscape of Anykščiai Regional Park, climb the highest hill of the regional park, get to know the history of the Struvė geodetic arc, measurement methods, and understand the size of our planet Earth.

You will find a geodetic point on Storii Hill. It is one of 18 points in Lithuania that are part of the Struvė Geodetic Arc, a World Cultural and Natural Heritage site.

We invite you to test your knowledge of Lithuanian geography and briefly become specialists in measuring distances and angles.

Struve geodetic arc

This is a historical geodetic arc, installed in the 19th century. The purpose of the arc is to determine the shape and size of the Earth. It is a 2,822 km long triangulation (triangle) measurement system (chain), created in 1816–1852. It stretches along the 26° East meridian from Hammerfest (Norway) on the Arctic Ocean coast to Izmail (Ukraine) on the Black Sea (between the parallels of 70°40' and 45°20' North latitude).

It is the largest measured geodetic arc in the world. It crosses ten countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova.

In the 19th century, surveying expeditions were conducted in the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden, in close collaboration with the most talented local scientists. An advanced theory and methodology of geodetic and astronomical measurements were developed, instruments were invented and manufactured specifically for these measurements, and observatories were established.

Interesting. Arc measurements began in Lithuania. They were initiated in 1816–1821 by the Russian army officer Karolis Teneris, who carried out triangulation work in Vilnius Governorate. The measurements were made along the 26° meridian of the Vilnius Observatory. When K. Teneris combined his measurements with the triangulation chain of Professor Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve of the University of Dorpat (now Tartu), the main section of the chain was formed. It was further extended to the North and to the South.

From 1852 until the middle of the 20th century (before satellite measurement methods became available), the Earth's parameters (radius of curvature, diameter, size of the Earth) determined by measurements of this arc were used to calculate Earth models in geodesy, cartography, astronomy, and navigation.

The information was prepared within the framework of the implementation of project No. LLI-477 "Creation of the International Tourist Route "Struvė Geodetic Arc". The project is funded by the 2014–2020 Interreg VA Latvia and Lithuania Programme.