CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
596 km from Culfa to Culfa, about 12 h 46 of riding. It goes by way of The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus, The main chapel, The village and The Baran village. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Azerbaijan into Iran - carry ID and check the toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
What I can tell you is the country around it. Culfa, the district town, lies about five kilometres away.
Read the complete Chupan Chapel write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Chupan Chapel is where the day begins. Next is The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus.
On a bare hillside near the border between Iran and Turkey, close to the foot of Mount Ararat, stands a black-and-white church that has survived earthquakes, wars and neglect for most of a thousand years. The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus, known in Iran as Qara Kelisa, the Black Church, is one of the oldest and most revered Armenian churches in the world. It is built of alternating bands of black and white stone, in a way that gives it a striking, almost chequered appearance, and it stands in a high, windy valley of the north-west.
Read the complete The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus comes up about 151 km into the recorded legs. Next is The main chapel.
Black and white stone, in alternating courses, climbs the walls of a church that stands alone on a hillside in the far north-west of Iran. The Armenians call it the monastery of Saint Thaddeus, and the Persians know it as Qara Kelisa, the black church, a name that comes from the dark stone of its lower walls. Tradition says that a chapel was founded here in the first century by the apostle Thaddeus, who was martyred nearby, and that this makes it one of the oldest places of Christian worship in the world. The buildings that stand today are mostly of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, rebuilt after an earthquake, and they are among the finest examples of Armenian architecture outside Armenia.
Read the complete The main chapel write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
At least about 200 km into the recorded legs you reach The main chapel. Next is The village.
The village near the black church is a world of mud, stone and apricot trees. Low houses with flat roofs are built into the slope, with piles of fuel cakes drying against the walls, smoke curling from chimneys in the evening, and the sound of sheep and dogs echoing in the valley. People here live much as they have for generations, growing grain and fruit, herding animals and trading with the markets in the towns below. This corner of West Azerbaijan is a mix of Azeri and Kurdish villages, with Armenian history layered underneath.
Read the complete The village write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The village, about halfway. Next is The Baran village.
The Baran village sits at 171 km, about halfway. Next is back through The village.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The village write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through The village comes up about 347 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through The main chapel.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The main chapel write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 396 km into the recorded legs you reach back through The main chapel. Next is back through The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus, late in the day. Next is Chupan Chapel.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chupan Chapel write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 596 km.
Chupan Chapel → The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus is 151 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus → The main chapel is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The main chapel → The village is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The village → The Baran village is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Baran village → back through The village is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The village → back through The main chapel is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The main chapel → back through The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus → Chupan Chapel is 153 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.