Why this ride
From Ravenna it runs 374 km to Ravenna; allow about 6 h 49 of riding. The stops in between: Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, Gessi Bolognesi, Diamantina and back through Gessi Bolognesi. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna and Diamantina
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 374 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 49
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna
Ravenna is the odd one out in Italian history, a small flat city on the edge of the Adriatic that for a while was the capital of an empire. In 402 the Western Roman emperor Honorius moved his court here from Milan, because the marshes and lagoons around the town made it easy to defend, and for the next century and a half it passed through the hands of Roman emperors, the Ostrogoth king Theodoric, and then the Byzantines, who ruled Italy from here through an exarch. Each left buildings, and eight of them, decorated in dazzling mosaics, make up the Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna that UNESCO listed in 1996.
Read the complete Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna is where the day begins. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, 58 km on.
2. Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
Driving through the hills of Romagna, south of Faenza, you notice a long, pale ridge cutting across the valleys like a wall. This is the Vena del Gesso Romagnola, a band of gypsum rock about twenty-five kilometres long, and Monte Mauro is its highest point, rising above the villages of Riolo Terme, Brisighella and Fognano. The ridge is now a regional park and part of the UNESCO site for the evaporitic karst of the northern Apennines.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gessi Bolognesi.
3. Gessi Bolognesi
Ride south out of Bologna and within ten minutes the city's suburbs give way to something surprising: a range of low hills made of gypsum, a soft, crystalline rock that dissolves in water and forms caves, sinkholes and strange, shiny outcrops. These are the Gessi Bolognesi, a protected regional park between the Savena and Idice valleys, and in 2023 they became part of the UNESCO site for the evaporitic karst and caves of the northern Apennines.
Read the complete Gessi Bolognesi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 125 km into the recorded legs you reach Gessi Bolognesi. Next is Diamantina.
4. Diamantina
The Este dukes of Ferrara loved their countryside retreats, the delizie, and they scattered them across the flat land around the city like jewels on a cloth. The Diamantina, near Vigarano Pieve west of Ferrara, was one of them, an estate of farmland, woods and buildings named after the diamond, a symbol of the Este family. The delizie are part of the UNESCO listing of Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta, which recognises the city's planned urban layout and the way the Este shaped the surrounding landscape, draining marshes and creating farms and hunting grounds.
Read the complete Diamantina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Diamantina, about halfway. Next is back through Gessi Bolognesi.
5. back through Gessi Bolognesi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gessi Bolognesi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gessi Bolognesi sits at 230 km, about halfway. Next is back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, 58 km on.
6. back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro comes up about 311 km into the recorded legs. Next is Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna.
7. Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna closes the day.
Leg by leg
Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna to Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro to Gessi Bolognesi
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro → Gessi Bolognesi is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi Bolognesi to Diamantina
Gessi Bolognesi → Diamantina is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Diamantina to back through Gessi Bolognesi
Diamantina → back through Gessi Bolognesi is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Gessi Bolognesi to back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
back through Gessi Bolognesi → back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro to Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna
back through Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro → Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Church of St. Vitale and Diamantina · 379 km
- Mausoleum of Galla Placida and Diamantina · 378 km
- Neonian Baptistry and Diamantina · 375 km
- Archiepiscopal Chapel and Diamantina · 376 km