Why this ride
A 382 km round trip from Caltagirone - roughly 8 h 12 in the saddle. The stops in between: Villa Romana del Casale, Militello Val di Catania, Palazzolo Acreide and Necropolis of Pantalica. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Caltagirone and Necropolis of Pantalica
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 382 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 12
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
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. Caltagirone
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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Caltagirone is where the day begins. Next is Villa Romana del Casale.
2. Villa Romana del Casale
Somewhere in the fourth century AD, a very rich Roman, perhaps a senator or an imperial official, built a country villa in the hills of central Sicily and covered its floors with mosaics. The Villa Romana del Casale, just outside Piazza Armerina, has some of the finest and most extensive Roman floor mosaics anywhere, around 3,500 square metres, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1997. Buried by a landslide in the Middle Ages, the villa was rediscovered and excavated mainly in the twentieth century, and the mosaics were preserved remarkably well.
Read the complete Villa Romana del Casale write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Villa Romana del Casale comes up 35 km in. Next is Militello Val di Catania.
3. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
69 km in you reach Militello Val di Catania. Next is Palazzolo Acreide.
4. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palazzolo Acreide, about halfway. Next is Necropolis of Pantalica.
5. Necropolis of Pantalica
Thousands of small square doorways riddle the limestone cliffs above the Anapo and Calcinara valleys, like the windows of a vast abandoned apartment block. These are rock-cut tombs, some five thousand of them, carved by the people who lived at Pantalica between roughly the thirteenth and seventh centuries before Christ. Together with Syracuse, the necropolis is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it is one of the most evocative places in Sicily, in a gorge of the Hyblaean Mountains west of Syracuse, between the towns of Sortino and Ferla.
Read the complete Necropolis of Pantalica write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Necropolis of Pantalica sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Palazzolo Acreide.
6. back through Palazzolo Acreide
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palazzolo Acreide write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Palazzolo Acreide comes up 173 km in. Next is back through Militello Val di Catania.
7. back through Militello Val di Catania
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
208 km in you reach back through Militello Val di Catania. Next is back through Villa Romana del Casale.
8. back through Villa Romana del Casale
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villa Romana del Casale write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Villa Romana del Casale, late in the day. Next is Caltagirone.
9. Caltagirone
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caltagirone write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 382 km.
Leg by leg
Caltagirone to Villa Romana del Casale
Caltagirone → Villa Romana del Casale is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa Romana del Casale to Militello Val di Catania
Villa Romana del Casale → Militello Val di Catania is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Militello Val di Catania to Palazzolo Acreide
Militello Val di Catania → Palazzolo Acreide is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Palazzolo Acreide to Necropolis of Pantalica
Palazzolo Acreide → Necropolis of Pantalica is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Pantalica to back through Palazzolo Acreide
Necropolis of Pantalica → back through Palazzolo Acreide is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Palazzolo Acreide to back through Militello Val di Catania
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 to back through Villa Romana del Casale
back through Militello Val di Catania → back through Villa Romana del Casale is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Villa Romana del Casale to Caltagirone
back through Villa Romana del Casale → Caltagirone is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.