Why this ride
A 387 km round trip from Bologna - roughly 7 h 04 in the saddle. It goes by way of Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, Gessi Bolognesi, Gessi di Zola predosa and Cathedral. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Certosa and Cathedral
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 387 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 04
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Gessi di Zola predosa → Cathedral
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 42 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 44 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Certosa
Bologna has a way of making even its dead look sociable. The Certosa, the monumental cemetery just north-west of the old walls, began life as a Carthusian monastery and was turned into a public burial ground at the start of the nineteenth century, when Napoleonic rules said the dead should lie outside the city. The monks' cloisters and chapels were simply adapted, and over the next two centuries families commissioned sculpture on a scale that makes the place feel like an open-air museum. Marble weeping women, family portraits in stone, scenes from daily life, and a lot of whiskered gentlemen in frock coats line long arcades.
Read the complete Certosa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Certosa is where the day begins. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 34 km on.
2. Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola
The Santerno valley climbs south from Imola into the Apennines toward Tuscany, and about fifteen kilometres up, the river cuts through a ridge of shining grey-white rock. This is the western end of the Vena del Gesso Romagnola, the gypsum vein that runs across this part of Romagna, and Monte Penzola rises above the village of Borgo Tossignano, with Fontanelice and Casalfiumanese nearby.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gessi Bolognesi.
3. Gessi Bolognesi
Ride south out of Bologna and within ten minutes the city's suburbs give way to something surprising: a range of low hills made of gypsum, a soft, crystalline rock that dissolves in water and forms caves, sinkholes and strange, shiny outcrops. These are the Gessi Bolognesi, a protected regional park between the Savena and Idice valleys, and in 2023 they became part of the UNESCO site for the evaporitic karst and caves of the northern Apennines.
Read the complete Gessi Bolognesi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 120 km into the recorded legs you reach Gessi Bolognesi. Next is Gessi di Zola predosa.
4. Gessi di Zola predosa
Southwest of Bologna, where the flat Po plain meets the first ripples of the Apennines, the hills around Zola Predosa hide a strange geology. These are gypsum hills, made of evaporite rock formed when an ancient sea dried out millions of years ago, leaving layers of shimmering selenite crystals. Water dissolves gypsum easily, and over time it has carved sinkholes, blind valleys and caves through the rock. In 2023, the Evaporitic Karst and Caves of the Northern Apennines were listed by UNESCO, and the Gessi Bolognesi around here are a key part of that story.
Read the complete Gessi di Zola predosa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gessi di Zola predosa, about halfway. Next is Cathedral.
5. Cathedral
Modena's cathedral is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture in Europe, and the inscription on its facade still names its makers with pride: the architect Lanfranco and the sculptor Wiligelmo. Work began in 1099 to house the relics of Saint Geminianus, the city's patron, and the result is a building of pale stone, with arcaded galleries, lions supporting the columns of the portal, and carved panels telling the story of Genesis with an expressive power that still surprises. The Ghirlandina, the cathedral's bell tower, leans slightly and rises high above the rooftops, and together with the Piazza Grande they form a UNESCO site.
Read the complete Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cathedral sits at 135 km, about halfway. Next is back through Gessi di Zola predosa.
6. back through Gessi di Zola predosa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gessi di Zola predosa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gessi di Zola predosa comes up about 234 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Gessi Bolognesi.
7. back through Gessi Bolognesi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gessi Bolognesi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 265 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Gessi Bolognesi. Next is back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 33 km on.
8. back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, late in the day. Next is Certosa.
9. Certosa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Certosa 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 387 km.
Leg by leg
Certosa to Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola
Certosa → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola to Gessi Bolognesi
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola → Gessi Bolognesi is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi Bolognesi to Gessi di Zola predosa
Gessi Bolognesi → Gessi di Zola predosa is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi di Zola predosa to Cathedral
Gessi di Zola predosa → Cathedral is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathedral to back through Gessi di Zola predosa
Cathedral → back through Gessi di Zola predosa is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi di Zola predosa to back through Gessi Bolognesi
back through Gessi di Zola predosa → back through Gessi Bolognesi is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi Bolognesi to back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola
back through Gessi Bolognesi → back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola to Certosa
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola → Certosa is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.