The Beijing Olympic torch relay route in St. Petersburg has been settled, a senior sports official of the northern Russian city said in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.

The flame will travel around 20 km before reaching its final stop, the Palace Square, which is located besides the Winter Palace, said Vyacheslav Chazov, president of the committee of physical culture and sport in St. Petersburg.

"The torch will pass through many famous cultural and historical relics as well as beautiful views such as cruiser Aurora, Peter and Paul Fortress and Bronze Horseman to showcase the unique features of St. Petersburg to the world," he said.

The whole process is to last for about four and a half hours.

According to Chazov, the last torch bearer will be Svetlana Zhurova, the vice speaker of Russian State Duma, who is also a gold medalist at Turin Olympics.

Zhurova has won a gold medal in women's 500-meter speedskating at the Turin Olympics in 2006 and was elected the vice speaker of Russia's fifth State Duma in Dec. 2007.

The holy flame of the Beijing Olympics will be lit in Olympia of Greece on March 24, 2008.

As the third leg of the relay, St. Petersburg will see the 80 torchbearers' relay on April 5.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2008)