Convento de las Claras and Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
357 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 19
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.
357 km from Salamanca to Salamanca, about 4 h 19 of riding. It goes by way of Hermitage of San Segundo, Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante and back through Hermitage of San Segundo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Convento de las Claras
Not many convents invite you to walk up into the roof, but the Convento de las Claras in Salamanca does. It was founded in the thirteenth century as a house of Poor Clares, the order of nuns following Saint Francis, and over the centuries it was altered and rebuilt, so that a visitor now finds a mixture of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque features. The great attraction is a walkway built in the restoration that takes you up beside the timber roof of the church, so that you stand close to carved wooden coffers and a roof structure that would normally be invisible from below. It also gives a view across the rooftops of the old quarter.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Convento de las Claras is where the day begins. Next is Hermitage of San Segundo.
2. Hermitage of San Segundo
Outside the great medieval walls of Ávila, down by the river Adaja, a small Romanesque church stands among trees, quiet and often overlooked by the crowds heading for the walls and the cathedral. The Hermitage of San Segundo is dedicated to the first bishop of Ávila, according to tradition one of seven early missionaries sent to Spain, and it holds an alabaster statue of the saint at prayer, carved in the sixteenth century by the sculptor Juan de Juni. The building itself is simple and austere, with a beautiful carved doorway, and it is a lovely, peaceful place to visit. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hermitage of San Segundo comes up about 104 km into the recorded legs. Next is Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante.
3. Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante
Most people who come to San Lorenzo de El Escorial only see the monastery, that vast granite grid Philip II raised in the second half of the sixteenth century as palace, basilica, library and royal tomb all at once. A short walk below it, through terraced gardens and woodland, sits something far more human in scale. The Casita del Infante, also called the Casita de Arriba, was designed by Juan de Villanueva in the late eighteenth century for the Infante Gabriel, a son of Carlos III, as a place to retreat, play music and escape the endless etiquette of court. Its sibling, the Casita del Príncipe, lies down the hill near the town of El Escorial and was built for the future Carlos IV.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Convento de las Claras. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Convento de las Claras to Hermitage of San Segundo
Convento de las Claras → Hermitage of San Segundo is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Hermitage of San Segundo to Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante
Hermitage of San Segundo → Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante to back through Hermitage of San Segundo
Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante → back through Hermitage of San Segundo is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hermitage of San Segundo to Convento de las Claras
back through Hermitage of San Segundo → Convento de las Claras is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.