Eglise et Monastère de San Salvador and Santa Cristina de Lena
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
322 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 13
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 322 km round trip from Grado - roughly 4 h 13 in the saddle. On the way it passes Eglise San Salvador, Santa Cristina de Lena and back through Eglise San Salvador. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Scenic road chapters
Ruta de la Plata
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 87 km this is Ruta de la Plata, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
87 km
Named road
Ruta de la Plata
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Eglise et Monastère de San Salvador
Pilgrims have been trudging past these walls for about a thousand years, which makes a motorcycle look like a rather recent idea. The monastery of San Salvador de Cornellana stands beside the Narcea river in central Asturias, on the old inland route to Santiago that runs west from Oviedo through Grado and Salas. It was founded in the eleventh century, passed to the Benedictines of Cluny, and the church that survives keeps Romanesque bones under later remodelling. The bulk of the cloister and the old monastic buildings give the little village a weight that seems out of proportion to its size.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Eglise et Monastère de San Salvador is where the day begins. Next is Eglise San Salvador.
2. Eglise San Salvador
Tucked into a narrow valley a few kilometres south of Villaviciosa, the little church of San Salvador de Valdediós is one of the jewels of Asturian pre-Romanesque architecture. Locals call it El Conventín, the little convent, and it was consecrated at the end of the ninth century under King Alfonso III, during the period when the small Kingdom of Asturias was the only Christian state in Iberia not under Muslim rule. Its tall, narrow nave, round arches and delicate stone lattice windows give it a strangely intimate atmosphere.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Eglise San Salvador comes up about 87 km into the recorded legs. Next is Santa Cristina de Lena.
3. Santa Cristina de Lena
On a grassy knoll above the Lena valley, south of Oviedo, stands a tiny stone church that has watched over the main road between Asturias and Castile for more than a thousand years. Santa Cristina de Lena is one of the jewels of Asturian pre-Romanesque architecture, built in the ninth century when the little Christian kingdom of Asturias was the only part of Iberia outside Muslim rule. Its unusual plan, with a raised presbytery behind an arcade of carved arches, and its finely worked stone screens are unique. Together with Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo in Oviedo, it is part of a World Heritage listing.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Eglise et Monastère de San Salvador. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Eglise et Monastère de San Salvador to Eglise San Salvador
Eglise et Monastère de San Salvador → Eglise San Salvador is 87 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Eglise San Salvador to Santa Cristina de Lena
Eglise San Salvador → Santa Cristina de Lena is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Santa Cristina de Lena to back through Eglise San Salvador
Santa Cristina de Lena → back through Eglise San Salvador is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Eglise San Salvador to Eglise et Monastère de San Salvador
back through Eglise San Salvador → Eglise et Monastère de San Salvador is 87 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.