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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo and Sasso Fratino

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
339 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 18
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

339 km from Ravenna to Ravenna, about 6 h 18 of riding. On the way it passes Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino, Sasso Fratino and back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo

    Theodoric did not build Sant'Apollinare Nuovo as a monastery church. He built it around the year 500 as the palace chapel for his Arian court, a hall with a wooden roof and two long walls of marble columns, and it still carries the finest strip of mosaic in the city. High on the left wall, a procession of virgins in white robes moves from the port of Classe toward the Virgin and Child, led by the three Magi. On the right, a line of martyrs advances from the palace towards Christ enthroned. The walking figures look calm, and their gold background makes the whole nave shimmer.

    Read the complete Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo is where the day begins. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino, 66 km on.

  2. 2. Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino

    Crystals the size of a hand catch the sun along the Vena del Gesso, a ridge of selenite gypsum that runs for some twenty-five kilometres across the hills of Romagna, from the Sillaro valley to the Lamone. The rock formed millions of years ago when the Mediterranean dried up and its salts were deposited, and it has since been carved by water into caves, sinkholes and blind valleys. In 2023, UNESCO listed the evaporite karst and caves of the northern Apennines, and the Vena del Gesso is the heart of it. Monte Casino is one of the peaks on the ridge, near Borgo Tossignano and Casola Valsenio.

    Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sasso Fratino.

  3. 3. Sasso Fratino

    Sasso Fratino is a forest you are not allowed to enter, and that is precisely the point. High on the Romagna side of the Apennine ridge, in the national park of the Casentino forests, it was declared Italy's first integral nature reserve in 1959, and since then nature has been left almost entirely to itself. Ancient beech woods cling to steep slopes, with silver fir, maple and ash mixed in, and dead trees are left to rot where they fall, feeding fungi, beetles and birds. In 2017 it became part of the transnational World Heritage listing of ancient beech forests of Europe.

    Read the complete Sasso Fratino write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 170 km into the recorded legs you reach Sasso Fratino. Next is back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino, 66 km on.

  4. 4. back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino, late in the day. Next is Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo, 65 km on.

  5. 5. Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo to Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino

Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino is 65 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino to Sasso Fratino

Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino → Sasso Fratino is 105 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Sasso Fratino to back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino

Sasso Fratino → back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino is 106 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino to Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo

back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino → Basilica of St. Apollinaire Nuovo is 63 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

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