What connects the cities of Hammerfest in Norway, Tartu in Estonia and Stara Nekrassiwka in Ukraine? It is not too obvious, but in fact the so-called Struve Geodetic Arc runs through these cities – and several countries between them.
The German astronomer Wilhelm Struve wanted to determine the exact shape of the Earth by using 265 different measuring points along a meridian. The individual measurements took place between 1816 and 1855 and literally went over hill and dale. 34 points of the Struve Geodetic Arc are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The Struve Geodetic Arc crosses Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. However, the starting point is the survey point at the Tartu Observatory. There are obelisks or memorials at some of the various measuring points, for example the meridian column in Hammerfest, Norway.
Overview of the monuments: https://franks-travelbox.com/?s=struve+arc
Information about the Tartu Observatory: https://muuseum.ut.ee/et/tahetorn
Photo: Old Observatory in Tartu, Estonia. Credits: Wikipedia/A.Savin.
