Why this ride
359 km from Catania to Catania, about 7 h 24 of riding. It goes by way of Militello Val di Catania, Necropolis of Pantalica, Epipolae and Palazzolo Acreide. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Catania day out · Palazzolo Acreide
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 359 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 24
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Catania
Catania has been knocked down and rebuilt so many times that it has made a style out of resilience. Lava from Etna overran parts of the city in 1669, and then in 1693 a devastating earthquake flattened it almost entirely. The rebuilding produced one of the most striking Baroque cities in Italy, built with dark grey lava stone set off against pale limestone, with wide straight streets designed to offer escape routes in future disasters. The centre is part of the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto World Heritage Site, and Etna looms over everything, often smoking at the end of the Via Etnea.
Read the complete Catania write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Catania is where the day begins. Next is Militello Val di Catania.
2. Militello Val di Catania
Militello in Val di Catania is a small town in the hills south-west of Catania, in eastern Sicily, surrounded by orange groves and olive trees, with Mount Etna visible on the horizon. Like many towns in this part of Sicily, it was devastated by the earthquake of 1693, which destroyed much of the south-east of the island, and was rebuilt in the Baroque style. Its churches and palaces are part of the UNESCO-listed Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, inscribed in 2002, together with Noto, Ragusa, Modica, Caltagirone and others.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Militello Val di Catania comes up about 46 km into the recorded legs. Next is Necropolis of Pantalica.
3. Necropolis of Pantalica
Thousands of small square doorways riddle the limestone cliffs above the Anapo and Calcinara valleys, like the windows of a vast abandoned apartment block. These are rock-cut tombs, some five thousand of them, carved by the people who lived at Pantalica between roughly the thirteenth and seventh centuries before Christ. Together with Syracuse, the necropolis is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it is one of the most evocative places in Sicily, in a gorge of the Hyblaean Mountains west of Syracuse, between the towns of Sortino and Ferla.
Read the complete Necropolis of Pantalica write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 106 km into the recorded legs you reach Necropolis of Pantalica. Next is Epipolae.
4. Epipolae
Above Syracuse the land rises in a long limestone terrace, a triangle of high ground pointing inland, and the ancient Greeks called it Epipolae, the place above the city. Whoever held it held Syracuse. During the great Athenian expedition against the city, between 415 and 413 BC, the fight for this plateau decided the war: the Athenians tried to wall Syracuse in from here, the Syracusans and their Spartan allies built counter-walls, and in the end the Athenian army was destroyed, with thousands of prisoners left to die in the stone quarries below. A few years later the tyrant Dionysius I enclosed the entire plateau with walls many kilometres long, and at its western tip he built the Castello Eurialo, one of the most complete Greek fortresses anywhere.
Read the complete Epipolae write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Epipolae, about halfway. Next is Palazzolo Acreide.
5. Palazzolo Acreide
Long before the Baroque churches, there were the Greeks. In the seventh century BC, settlers from Syracuse founded a hilltop outpost here called Akrai, controlling the routes into the interior of Sicily. The remains of their town lie on the hill above modern Palazzolo Acreide: a small, beautifully preserved Greek theatre with views over the hills, stone quarries turned into burial chambers, and the Santoni, a series of rock-cut figures of the goddess Cybele, carved into a cliff face, weathered but still powerful.
Read the complete Palazzolo Acreide write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palazzolo Acreide sits at 148 km, about halfway. Next is back through Epipolae.
6. back through Epipolae
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Epipolae write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Epipolae comes up about 225 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Necropolis of Pantalica.
7. back through Necropolis of Pantalica
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Necropolis of Pantalica write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 255 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Necropolis of Pantalica. Next is back through Militello Val di Catania.
8. back through Militello Val di Catania
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Militello Val di Catania, late in the day. Next is Catania.
9. Catania
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Catania write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 359 km.
Leg by leg
Catania to Militello Val di Catania
Catania → Militello Val di Catania is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Militello Val di Catania to Necropolis of Pantalica
Militello Val di Catania → Necropolis of Pantalica is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Pantalica to Epipolae
Necropolis of Pantalica → Epipolae is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Epipolae to Palazzolo Acreide
Epipolae → Palazzolo Acreide is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Palazzolo Acreide to back through Epipolae
Palazzolo Acreide → back through Epipolae is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Epipolae to back through Necropolis of Pantalica
back through Epipolae → back through Necropolis of Pantalica is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Necropolis of Pantalica to back through Militello Val di Catania
back through Necropolis of Pantalica → back through Militello Val di Catania is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Militello Val di Catania to Catania
back through Militello Val di Catania → Catania is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.