Basilica of San Vicente and Monastery and Site of the Escurial
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
345 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 09
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.
From Ávila it runs 345 km to Ávila; allow about 5 h 09 of riding. It goes by way of Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante, Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct, Monastery and Site of the Escurial and back through Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Scenic road chapters
Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante → Old Town of Segovia and i
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 55 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
Length
59 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Basilica of San Vicente
San Vicente is one of the grandest Romanesque churches in Spain, and it sits just outside the walls of Ávila, near the Puerta de San Vicente, with a broad porch and a pair of towers that never quite match. It is named for Vicente and his sisters Sabina and Cristeta, who according to tradition were martyred here in the early fourth century, and their tomb, an elaborate Gothic canopy, is inside the church. The carvings on the west door are among the finest in Castile.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Basilica of San Vicente is where the day begins. Next is Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante.
2. Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante
Most people who come to San Lorenzo de El Escorial only see the monastery, that vast granite grid Philip II raised in the second half of the sixteenth century as palace, basilica, library and royal tomb all at once. A short walk below it, through terraced gardens and woodland, sits something far more human in scale. The Casita del Infante, also called the Casita de Arriba, was designed by Juan de Villanueva in the late eighteenth century for the Infante Gabriel, a son of Carlos III, as a place to retreat, play music and escape the endless etiquette of court. Its sibling, the Casita del Príncipe, lies down the hill near the town of El Escorial and was built for the future Carlos IV.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante comes up about 59 km into the recorded legs. Next is Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct.
3. Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct
The Roman aqueduct of Segovia strides through the middle of the city on two tiers of granite arches, nearly thirty metres high at its tallest point, built without a drop of mortar, the stones held together by their own weight. It was probably built around the end of the first century or early second century AD, and it carried water to the city until well into modern times. Standing beneath it in the Plaza del Azoguejo, with traffic and people flowing around the base, you can only marvel at the skill of the engineers who built it almost two thousand years ago. The old town and the aqueduct were listed by UNESCO in 1985.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 118 km into the recorded legs you reach Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct. Next is Monastery and Site of the Escurial.
4. Monastery and Site of the Escurial
Philip II began the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in 1563 and it was finished in 1584, a short time for a building of its size. It sits on the southern slope of the Sierra de Guadarrama, about fifty kilometres north-west of Madrid, and the two towns beside it, San Lorenzo de El Escorial and El Escorial, are small, tidy and slightly prosperous, living partly off the building that gave them their name.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Basilica of San Vicente closes the day.
Leg by leg
Basilica of San Vicente to Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante
Basilica of San Vicente → Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante to Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct
Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante → Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct to Monastery and Site of the Escurial
Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct → Monastery and Site of the Escurial is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monastery and Site of the Escurial to back through Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct
Monastery and Site of the Escurial → back through Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct to back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante
back through Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct → back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante to Basilica of San Vicente
back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante → Basilica of San Vicente is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.