CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 341 km round trip from Tomar - roughly 4 h 36 in the saddle. It goes by way of Monastery of Alcobaça, Royal Building of Mafra - Palace and back through Monastery of Alcobaça. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The Knights Templar chose the hill above Tomar in the twelfth century, building a castle to defend the new kingdom of Portugal against the Moors, and at its heart they raised a round church, the Charola, modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. When the Templars were suppressed in the fourteenth century, the Portuguese king transferred their property to a new order, the Order of Christ, which went on to finance much of Portugal's maritime expansion; Henry the Navigator was its governor. Over the centuries, the order added cloisters, chapels and dormitories, and the Convent of Christ became one of the great monuments of Portugal, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1983.
Read the complete Convent of Christ in Tomar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Convent of Christ in Tomar is where the day begins. Next is Monastery of Alcobaça.
In 1153, Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, gave a vast estate to the Cistercian monks of Bernard of Clairvaux, and they built here one of the greatest monasteries of medieval Europe. The church of Alcobaça, with its long, soaring nave of pale stone, is austere and beautiful in the Cistercian manner, and the cloisters, dormitory, chapter house and refectory survive almost intact. The kitchen is enormous, with a huge chimney and a stream diverted through it so the monks could catch fish directly. UNESCO listed the monastery in 1989. But the main reason most visitors come is a love story.
Read the complete Monastery of Alcobaça write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Monastery of Alcobaça comes up 83 km in. Next is Royal Building of Mafra - Palace.
King João V of Portugal had a great deal of Brazilian gold and a vow to keep, and the result is the Royal Building of Mafra, a palace, basilica and monastery so large that it seems to belong to a different scale of town altogether. Construction began in 1717, reportedly in thanks for the birth of an heir, and the project absorbed enormous resources and tens of thousands of workers. The facade stretches for some two hundred and twenty metres, with the basilica in the centre and the royal apartments in the wings, the king's at one end and the queen's at the other, a long walk apart.
Read the complete Royal Building of Mafra - Palace write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
166 km in you reach Royal Building of Mafra - Palace. Next is back through Monastery of Alcobaça.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastery of Alcobaça write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Monastery of Alcobaça, late in the day. Next is Convent of Christ in Tomar.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Convent of Christ in Tomar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Convent of Christ in Tomar. That is the ride.
Convent of Christ in Tomar → Monastery of Alcobaça is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monastery of Alcobaça → Royal Building of Mafra - Palace is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Royal Building of Mafra - Palace → back through Monastery of Alcobaça is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Monastery of Alcobaça → Convent of Christ in Tomar is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.