Cefalù Cathedral and Archaeological Area of Agrigento

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Cefalù Cathedral

   Cefalù is where Sicily squeezes a medieval town between a rock and a beach. The Rocca, a limestone crag, rises a steep couple of hundred metres straight behind the old centre, and the cathedral sits at its foot, a heavy, golden-grey Norman building with two square towers that you can see from the coastal highway long before you reach the town. According to tradition King Roger II promised to build it after surviving a storm at sea, and work began in 1131. Whatever the truth of the vow, the church is a statement of power by a Norman king who ruled Sicily and wanted it to look Mediterranean, not merely northern.

   Read the complete Cefalù Cathedral write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Cefalù Cathedral is where the day begins. Next is Admiral’s Bridge.

2. 2. Admiral’s Bridge

   The Ponte dell'Ammiraglio is an old bridge that has lost its river. It was built in 1131 by George of Antioch, the admiral of the Norman king Roger II of Sicily, a Greek Christian from Syria who rose to be the most powerful man in the kingdom, and it spans the Oreto, whose course has since been diverted, leaving the bridge standing over a dry bed among modern roads. Even so, its pointed arches, built of pale stone, are a fine example of the Arab-Norman style that flourished in Sicily, and it forms part of the UNESCO listing of Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale, inscribed in 2015.

   Read the complete Admiral’s Bridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Admiral’s Bridge comes up about 66 km into the recorded legs. Next is Archaeological Area of Agrigento.

3. 3. Archaeological Area of Agrigento

   The Valley of the Temples is not really a valley at all, but a long ridge running parallel to the Sicilian south coast, with the sea shining a few kilometres to the south and modern Agrigento climbing the hill behind. The Greeks called their city Akragas. It was founded around 580 BC by settlers from Gela and became one of the great cities of the Greek west, rich enough that the philosopher Empedocles, who lived here, is said to have remarked that the citizens built as if they would live forever and ate as if they would die tomorrow.

   Read the complete Archaeological Area of Agrigento write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 191 km into the recorded legs you reach Archaeological Area of Agrigento. Next is back through Admiral’s Bridge.

4. 4. back through Admiral’s Bridge

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Admiral’s Bridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Admiral’s Bridge, late in the day. Next is Cefalù Cathedral.

5. 5. Cefalù Cathedral

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Cefalù Cathedral write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Cefalù Cathedral. That is the ride.