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.
A 328 km round trip from Ágios Pávlos - roughly 5 h 07 in the saddle. It goes by way of Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu, The wider area of Mount Olympus and back through Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Saint Demetrios is the patron saint of Thessaloniki, a Roman soldier martyred in the early fourth century, and his church is the heart of the city's religious life. The basilica stands on the hill above the old Roman forum, on the site where Demetrios is said to have been imprisoned and killed, and over the centuries it was rebuilt several times after fires. The present church, a great five-aisled basilica of the seventh century, was devastated by the fire of 1917, which destroyed much of the city, and was rebuilt in the following decades. A few of the early mosaics survived, set in pillars and walls, showing the saint with children and officials, and they are among the most moving works of the period.
Read the complete Church of St. Demetrios write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Church of St. Demetrios is where the day begins. Next is Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu.
Vergina is a small village at the foot of the Pierian mountains in northern Greece, and for most of history nobody outside the region knew its name. That changed in 1977, when the archaeologist Manolis Andronikos opened a great burial mound here and found royal tombs with astonishing grave goods. The site is ancient Aigai, the first capital of the Macedonian kingdom, and one of the tombs is widely attributed to Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. The prehistoric settlement and the large cemetery of burial mounds nearby show that people had been living and burying their dead here for a very long time before the Macedonian kings.
Read the complete Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is The wider area of Mount Olympus.
The gods chose well. Mount Olympus rises almost straight out of the Aegean, from sea level near Litochoro to 2,918 metres at Mytikas, its highest summit, in barely twenty kilometres, so that from the coast road it looks less like a mountain than a wall of grey rock and dark forest with clouds snagged on top. The ancient Greeks put their twelve Olympians up there, and on a stormy afternoon with thunder rolling around the peaks you can see why.
Read the complete The wider area of Mount Olympus write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 163 km into the recorded legs you reach The wider area of Mount Olympus. Next is back through Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu, late in the day. Next is Church of St. Demetrios, 69 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of St. Demetrios write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Church of St. Demetrios. That is the ride.
Church of St. Demetrios → Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu → The wider area of Mount Olympus is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The wider area of Mount Olympus → back through Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu is 95 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bronze Age settlement and Cemetery of Tumu → Church of St. Demetrios is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.