Cueva de mas del Abogat and Centelles- Abric I

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Cueva de mas del Abogat

   Calaceite is the kind of village that makes you slow down without being asked: honey-coloured stone, arcaded squares, a big baroque church and grand old houses with carved doorways, all perched on a ridge in the Matarraña, the corner of Teruel where Aragón meets Catalonia and Valencia. A few kilometres from it lies the Cueva de Mas del Abogat, one of the painted rock shelters that belong to the UNESCO listing of prehistoric art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula. As with its sisters across eastern Spain, the paintings are small and often hard to read; the setting is what you take away.

   Read the complete Cueva de mas del Abogat write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cueva de mas del Abogat is where the day begins. Next is Abric d'Ermites VI.

2. 2. Abric d'Ermites VI

   Ulldecona sits at the foot of the Serra de Godall, in the southern tip of Catalonia, close to the border with Valencia and a short distance from the Ebro delta. The town is an old one, set among olive groves that produce a good oil, and above it stands the hermitage of La Pietat, with long views to the sea. The Abric d'Ermites VI is one of the rock shelters of the Ermites group, painted in the Levantine style with small red figures of hunters, and part of the Mediterranean Basin rock art inscribed by UNESCO in 1998. The shelters lie in the cliffs of the Godall range, and access is by foot with regulations to protect the paintings.

   Read the complete Abric d'Ermites VI write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Abric d'Ermites VI comes up about 90 km into the recorded legs. Next is Centelles- Abric I.

3. 3. Centelles- Abric I

   Albocàsser and Catí are two quiet stone towns in the inland hills of Castellón, and between them, in a rocky ravine, the Centelles shelters hold some of the prehistoric paintings that make this corner of Spain a capital of Levantine rock art. The style is distinctive: small human figures, often archers, painted in red with long legs and dynamic poses, hunting deer, ibex and boar, sometimes in groups, sometimes in battle. The sites are part of the UNESCO listing of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Nearby, the Valltorta gorge, near Tírig, holds some of the most famous examples, and its museum explains the art and the people who made it.

   Read the complete Centelles- Abric I write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 156 km into the recorded legs you reach Centelles- Abric I. Next is back through Abric d'Ermites VI.

4. 4. back through Abric d'Ermites VI

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Abric d'Ermites VI write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Abric d'Ermites VI, late in the day. Next is Cueva de mas del Abogat.

5. 5. Cueva de mas del Abogat

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Cueva de mas del Abogat write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Cueva de mas del Abogat. That is the ride.