CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 322 km round trip from Vergína - roughly 4 h 49 in the saddle. On the way it passes Archaeological site of Dion, Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of and back through Archaeological site of Dion. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
In 1977 the Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos lifted the stone slab of a vaulted tomb under a huge mound near the village of Vergina and found a gold casket holding the cremated bones of a man in his forties, with a golden wreath beside them. Most scholars now accept that it was Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, murdered in the theatre of the old capital in 336 BC. The mound, the Great Tumulus, is the centrepiece of Aigai, the first capital of Macedon, and today the royal tombs are displayed underground in a museum built inside the tumulus itself, in a half-light that makes the gold glow.
Read the complete Archaeological Site of Aigai write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Archaeological Site of Aigai is where the day begins. Next is Archaeological site of Dion.
Mount Olympus rises straight out of the plain behind Dion, and on a clear morning its snow-streaked summit seems close enough to touch. The ancient Macedonians built their most sacred city here, at the foot of the home of the gods, and the kings came to sacrifice to Zeus before going to war. Philip II celebrated victories here, and Alexander the Great is said to have held a great festival at Dion before setting out to conquer Persia. Walking among the ruins, you can see why they chose the place: water bubbles up everywhere, the plain is fertile, and the mountain looms like a living presence.
Read the complete Archaeological site of Dion write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Archaeological site of Dion comes up about 76 km into the recorded legs. Next is Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of.
Thessaloniki has the odd distinction of being a Roman city, a Byzantine city, an Ottoman city and a Greek city, all at once, and the churches that UNESCO listed in 1988 tell the earliest part of the story. The Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments include the Rotunda, a huge round brick building put up around AD 300 as a mausoleum for the emperor Galerius, and later converted into a church. Its walls are about six metres thick, and it stands beside the remains of Galerius's palace and triumphal arch. A minaret from the Ottoman period still rises beside it.
Read the complete Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 161 km into the recorded legs you reach Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of. Next is back through Archaeological site of Dion.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Archaeological site of Dion write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Archaeological site of Dion, late in the day. Next is Archaeological Site of Aigai.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Archaeological Site of Aigai write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Archaeological Site of Aigai. That is the ride.
Archaeological Site of Aigai → Archaeological site of Dion is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Archaeological site of Dion → Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of is 85 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of → back through Archaeological site of Dion is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Archaeological site of Dion → Archaeological Site of Aigai is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.