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.
378 km from Ravenna to Ravenna, about 6 h 56 of riding. The stops in between: Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, Gessi Bolognesi, Diamantina and back through Gessi Bolognesi. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Arian Baptistry
The Arian Baptistry is small, plain and easy to miss, tucked on a side street east of the old centre, and that is half of its appeal. It is an octagon of brick, built by Theodoric in the early sixth century for the Arian Christians, the faith the Goths followed. Arians believed that Christ was subordinate to God the Father, a view the orthodox church condemned as heresy, and so Theodoric's Ravenna had two communities, two cathedrals and two baptisteries, living side by side with surprising tolerance for an age of war.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Arian Baptistry is where the day begins. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, 58 km on.
2. Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
Driving through the hills of Romagna, south of Faenza, you notice a long, pale ridge cutting across the valleys like a wall. This is the Vena del Gesso Romagnola, a band of gypsum rock about twenty-five kilometres long, and Monte Mauro is its highest point, rising above the villages of Riolo Terme, Brisighella and Fognano. The ridge is now a regional park and part of the UNESCO site for the evaporitic karst of the northern Apennines.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro comes up about 66 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gessi Bolognesi.
3. Gessi Bolognesi
Ride south out of Bologna and within ten minutes the city's suburbs give way to something surprising: a range of low hills made of gypsum, a soft, crystalline rock that dissolves in water and forms caves, sinkholes and strange, shiny outcrops. These are the Gessi Bolognesi, a protected regional park between the Savena and Idice valleys, and in 2023 they became part of the UNESCO site for the evaporitic karst and caves of the northern Apennines.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 128 km into the recorded legs you reach Gessi Bolognesi. Next is Diamantina.
4. Diamantina
The Este dukes of Ferrara loved their countryside retreats, the delizie, and they scattered them across the flat land around the city like jewels on a cloth. The Diamantina, near Vigarano Pieve west of Ferrara, was one of them, an estate of farmland, woods and buildings named after the diamond, a symbol of the Este family. The delizie are part of the UNESCO listing of Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta, which recognises the city's planned urban layout and the way the Este shaped the surrounding landscape, draining marshes and creating farms and hunting grounds.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Arian Baptistry closes the day.
Leg by leg
Arian Baptistry to Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
Arian Baptistry → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro to Gessi Bolognesi
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro → Gessi Bolognesi is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi Bolognesi to Diamantina
Gessi Bolognesi → Diamantina is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Diamantina to back through Gessi Bolognesi
Diamantina → back through Gessi Bolognesi is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Gessi Bolognesi to back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
back through Gessi Bolognesi → back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro to Arian Baptistry
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro → Arian Baptistry is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.