Cueva Palomera and Eglésia de Santa Maria de l'Assumpció
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
434 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 23
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.
A 434 km round trip from Alquézar - roughly 7 h 23 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cueva de Revilla, Eglésia de Santa Maria de l'Assumpció and back through Cueva de Revilla. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Pyrenees N260 Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 106 km this is Pyrenees N260 Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
106 km
Named road
Pyrenees N260 Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cueva Palomera
Barely five hundred metres from the centre of Alquézar, the Cueva Palomera takes its name from the doves that nested in it, a palomera being a dovecote. That makes it the closest of all the painted shelters on this list to a village, and the easiest to fit into a day of riding. The cave is among the sites catalogued in the Vero valley and falls within the UNESCO listing of the Mediterranean rock art of the Iberian Peninsula. Whether any paintings are visible, and whether the cave is open to visitors, you should check locally, because access rules change.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva Palomera is where the day begins. Next is Cueva de Revilla.
2. Cueva de Revilla
Revilla is one of the most spectacularly placed hamlets in the Spanish Pyrenees, perched on a ledge above the Garganta de Escuaín, a deep gorge cut into the limestone of the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park. It looks down into the canyon from a terrace of meadows, with the high peaks behind. The Cueva de Revilla is a cave in the cliffs near the hamlet, and the area between Bielsa, Plan and Boltaña is some of the wildest country in Aragón.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de Revilla comes up about 106 km into the recorded legs. Next is Eglésia de Santa Maria de l'Assumpció.
3. Eglésia de Santa Maria de l'Assumpció
Valleys in the high Pyrenees of Catalonia and Aragon are full of small Romanesque churches, and the area around the Alta Ribagorça is among the richest. They were built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries by craftsmen working in what is called the Lombard style, with plain stone walls, round arches and tall, slender bell towers decorated with blind arcades, and they stand in villages that often have only a few houses.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Cueva Palomera. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cueva Palomera to Cueva de Revilla
Cueva Palomera → Cueva de Revilla is 106 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de Revilla to Eglésia de Santa Maria de l'Assumpció
Cueva de Revilla → Eglésia de Santa Maria de l'Assumpció is 108 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Eglésia de Santa Maria de l'Assumpció to back through Cueva de Revilla
Eglésia de Santa Maria de l'Assumpció → back through Cueva de Revilla is 107 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Cueva de Revilla to Cueva Palomera
back through Cueva de Revilla → Cueva Palomera is 113 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.