Beneventum and the Arch of Trajan and Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Beneventum and the Arch of Trajan

   Benevento was a Samnite town called Maleventum when the Romans arrived, and they reportedly changed its name to Beneventum, good event instead of bad event, after defeating King Pyrrhus nearby in 275 BC. The city became an important stop on the Via Appia, and later the starting point of the Via Traiana, a shorter route to Brindisi built by the Emperor Trajan. In 114 AD, the city erected a triumphal arch in his honour where the new road began, and it is one of the best preserved Roman arches anywhere, covered with reliefs celebrating Trajan's achievements, from his conquests to his care for the poor. It stands today at the edge of the old town, its marble a soft cream colour, its carvings still sharp.

   Read the complete Beneventum and the Arch of Trajan write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Beneventum and the Arch of Trajan is where the day begins. Next is Pompeii.

2. 2. Pompeii

   Nobody in Pompeii knew that Vesuvius was a volcano. The town had been shaken by a violent earthquake in 62 AD and was still rebuilding in August 79, when the mountain exploded, burying the streets under a rain of pumice and then a hot flow of ash. About two thousand people died in the town, and the ash preserved bread in ovens, graffiti on walls, ruts in the stone roads and the hollows left by bodies. Excavation began in 1748, and in the 1860s the archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli poured plaster into the hollows to produce the figures you see in the museum. UNESCO listed the archaeological areas of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 1997.

   Read the complete Pompeii write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Pompeii comes up about 95 km into the recorded legs. Next is Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region.

3. 3. Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region

   According to legend, the siren Leucosia threw herself into the sea here after failing to lure Odysseus to his doom, and her body became the little island off Punta Licosa. It is a fine story for a fine place. Punta Licosa is a low, wild headland on the coast of the Cilento, south of Salerno, covered in Mediterranean scrub, pines and holm oaks, with rocky coves and clear water, and it forms part of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, listed by UNESCO in 1998 as a cultural landscape. Behind it rises Monte Stella, the mountain that gives its name to the surrounding hills, dotted with small villages and terraced olive groves.

   Read the complete Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 198 km into the recorded legs you reach Punta Licosa and the Mount Stella region. Next is back through Pompeii.

4. 4. back through Pompeii

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Pompeii write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Pompeii, late in the day. Next is Beneventum and the Arch of Trajan.

5. 5. Beneventum and the Arch of Trajan

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Beneventum and the Arch of Trajan write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Beneventum and the Arch of Trajan. That is the ride.