Certosa and Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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, 37 km on.

2. 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. 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 Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino, 37 km on.

4. 4. Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino

   Crystals the size of a hand catch the sun along the Vena del Gesso, a ridge of selenite gypsum that runs for some twenty-five kilometres across the hills of Romagna, from the Sillaro valley to the Lamone. The rock formed millions of years ago when the Mediterranean dried up and its salts were deposited, and it has since been carved by water into caves, sinkholes and blind valleys. In 2023, UNESCO listed the evaporite karst and caves of the northern Apennines, and the Vena del Gesso is the heart of it. Monte Casino is one of the peaks on the ridge, near Borgo Tossignano and Casola Valsenio.

   Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Casino 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 Casino, about halfway. Next is back through Gessi Bolognesi.

5. 5. 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

   back through Gessi Bolognesi sits at 147 km, about halfway. Next is back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Penzola, 36 km on.

6. 6. 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 comes up about 291 km into the recorded legs. Next is Certosa.

7. 7. 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

   Certosa closes the day.