Why this ride
From Córdoba it runs 339 km to Córdoba; allow about 5 h 14 of riding. The stops in between: Cueva del Encajero, Baeza and back through Cueva del Encajero. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Caliphate City of Medina Azahara and Baeza
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 339 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 14
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Caliphate City of Medina Azahara
In the middle of the tenth century, Abd al-Rahman III, the first Caliph of Córdoba, decided that the capital needed a palace city, and he built it a few kilometres to the west, on the lower slopes of the Sierra Morena. Medina Azahara, begun in 936, was a showpiece of caliphal power, intended to impress ambassadors from Byzantium and the Christian kingdoms, with terraces rising up the hillside, a mosque, a mint, gardens and a reception hall of gold and marble. It was a government in stone, and it lasted barely seventy years.
Read the complete Caliphate City of Medina Azahara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Caliphate City of Medina Azahara is where the day begins. Next is Cueva del Encajero.
2. Cueva del Encajero
Olives, and then more olives. Riding west out of Jaén towards Torredonjimeno you cross one of the most single-minded agricultural landscapes in Europe, a rolling grid of grey-green trees running over every hill to the horizon, broken only by white farmhouses and the occasional oil mill. Somewhere among these low hills near Villardompardo, the Cueva del Encajero is a small rock shelter with traces of prehistoric painting, one of the many scattered sites that make up the World Heritage listing of rock art in Spain's Mediterranean basin.
Read the complete Cueva del Encajero write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva del Encajero comes up about 103 km into the recorded legs. Next is Baeza.
3. Baeza
Baeza is a town of honey-coloured stone set on a ridge above a sea of olive trees. From its edge, the view drops over the Guadalquivir valley to the dark line of the Sierra Mágina, and in every direction the hills are covered with orderly rows of olives, millions of them, the source of more olive oil than almost anywhere on earth. The town's Renaissance palaces, churches and squares, together with those of neighbouring Úbeda, make up a World Heritage site.
Read the complete Baeza write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 173 km into the recorded legs you reach Baeza. Next is back through Cueva del Encajero.
4. back through Cueva del Encajero
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva del Encajero write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cueva del Encajero, late in the day. Next is Caliphate City of Medina Azahara.
5. Caliphate City of Medina Azahara
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caliphate City of Medina Azahara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Caliphate City of Medina Azahara. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Caliphate City of Medina Azahara to Cueva del Encajero
Caliphate City of Medina Azahara → Cueva del Encajero is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Cueva del Encajero to Baeza
Cueva del Encajero → Baeza is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Baeza to back through Cueva del Encajero
Baeza → back through Cueva del Encajero is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva del Encajero to Caliphate City of Medina Azahara
back through Cueva del Encajero → Caliphate City of Medina Azahara is 99 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Historic Centre of Cordoba and Baeza · 320 km