CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Caltagirone it runs 347 km to Caltagirone; allow about 7 h 18 of riding. On the way it passes Militello Val di Catania, Palazzolo Acreide, Modica and Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Caltagirone is a city built on ceramics. Perched on a ridge in the hills of south-east Sicily, it has been making pottery since ancient times, and the tradition is everywhere: majolica tiles on balconies, bridges and church domes, pottery shops lining the streets and a museum devoted to the craft. Its most famous sight is the Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte, a staircase of well over a hundred steps climbing from the lower town to a church at the top, each riser decorated with hand-painted tiles in different patterns and colours. In late July, for the feast of Saint James, the staircase is lit with thousands of oil lamps arranged in designs, a magical sight.
Read the complete Caltagirone write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caltagirone is where the day begins. Next is Militello Val di Catania.
Militello in Val di Catania is a small town in the hills south-west of Catania, in eastern Sicily, surrounded by orange groves and olive trees, with Mount Etna visible on the horizon. Like many towns in this part of Sicily, it was devastated by the earthquake of 1693, which destroyed much of the south-east of the island, and was rebuilt in the Baroque style. Its churches and palaces are part of the UNESCO-listed Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, inscribed in 2002, together with Noto, Ragusa, Modica, Caltagirone and others.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Militello Val di Catania comes up 35 km in. Next is Palazzolo Acreide.
Long before the Baroque churches, there were the Greeks. In the seventh century BC, settlers from Syracuse founded a hilltop outpost here called Akrai, controlling the routes into the interior of Sicily. The remains of their town lie on the hill above modern Palazzolo Acreide: a small, beautifully preserved Greek theatre with views over the hills, stone quarries turned into burial chambers, and the Santoni, a series of rock-cut figures of the goddess Cybele, carved into a cliff face, weathered but still powerful.
Read the complete Palazzolo Acreide write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
70 km in you reach Palazzolo Acreide. Next is Modica.
Modica was destroyed in 1693, rebuilt in a hurry, and the result is one of the most dramatic baroque towns in Europe. A great earthquake that January killed tens of thousands across south-eastern Sicily, and the towns of the Val di Noto rose again in a new style, with curved facades, carved balconies and grotesque stone faces looking down from the corners. UNESCO listed eight of them together in 2002, and Modica is one of the finest. It occupies two steep ridges and the gorge between them, and the houses climb up the sides in layers, so that a walk through the streets is mostly a matter of steps.
Read the complete Modica write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Modica, about halfway. Next is Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto.
On 11 January 1693, a catastrophic earthquake struck southeastern Sicily, destroying dozens of towns and killing tens of thousands of people. What happened next is one of the great chapters in the history of town planning. Noto, which stood on a hill some kilometres away, was abandoned, and a new town was built from scratch on a gentler slope, with a grid of streets, grand stairways, churches and palaces, all in the soft, honey-coloured local limestone that glows gold and pink at sunset. Together with seven other towns rebuilt after the earthquake, including Ragusa, Modica and Scicli, Noto was listed by UNESCO in 2002 as the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto.
Read the complete Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto sits at 141 km, about halfway. Next is back through Modica.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Modica write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Modica comes up 176 km in. Next is back through Palazzolo Acreide.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palazzolo Acreide write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
211 km in you reach back through Palazzolo Acreide. Next is back through Militello Val di Catania.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Militello Val di Catania, late in the day. Next is Caltagirone.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caltagirone write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 347 km.
Caltagirone → Militello Val di Catania is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Militello Val di Catania → Palazzolo Acreide is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Palazzolo Acreide → Modica is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Modica → Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto → back through Modica is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Modica → back through Palazzolo Acreide is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Palazzolo Acreide → back through Militello Val di Catania is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Militello Val di Catania → Caltagirone is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.