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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of and San Miguel Concá

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
303 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 24
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

A 303 km round trip from Jalpan - roughly 7 h 24 in the saddle. It goes by way of Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol, Santa María del Agua de Landa, San Miguel Concá and back through Santa María del Agua de Landa. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of

    In the 1740s and 1750s, Franciscan friars led by Junipero Serra, the same man who would later found missions in California, arrived in the Sierra Gorda, a rugged range in the state of Queretaro, to bring the Pame and other indigenous peoples into mission communities. The five missions they built, at Jalpan, Landa, Tilaco, Tancoyol and Conca, are among the most extraordinary churches in Mexico. Their facades are covered in vivid, almost wild, baroque decoration, with saints, angels, flowers, and symbols that seem to reflect local indigenous hands as much as European ones. UNESCO listed them in 2003.

    Read the complete Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of is where the day begins. Next is Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol.

  2. 2. Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

    Tancoyol is one of the last of the Sierra Gorda missions to be built, and it is perhaps the one that feels most remote. The church of Nuestra Señora de la Luz stands in a small village in the valley of the Santa María river, in the north of Querétaro, with a tall, intricate facade covered with plaster figures, flowers and symbols, a combination of European baroque and the imagination of the Pame people who helped to build it. UNESCO listed the five Sierra Gorda missions together in 2003, and Tancoyol is the quietest of them.

    Read the complete Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol comes up about 58 km into the recorded legs. Next is Santa María del Agua de Landa.

  3. 3. Santa María del Agua de Landa

    High in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro, Franciscan missionaries led by Junípero Serra in the mid eighteenth century built five mission churches, and their facades are an explosion of carved and painted plaster: angels, saints, flowers, fruit, mermaids and symbols that blend Catholic imagery with the local indigenous world. The mission of Santa María del Agua de Landa, in the village of Landa de Matamoros, has one of the most elaborate facades, glowing in pink and ochre. The five missions were listed together as a World Heritage Site in 2003. Serra went on to found the missions of California.

    Read the complete Santa María del Agua de Landa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach Santa María del Agua de Landa. Next is San Miguel Concá.

  4. 4. San Miguel Concá

    The five Franciscan missions of the Sierra Gorda are a very odd thing to find in the Mexican mountains: grand baroque churches, painted in pinks and yellows and covered in stone carvings, set in villages that are otherwise made of low houses and cornfields. San Miguel Conca is one of them. Father Junipero Serra, who would later found the missions of California, led the work here in the 1750s with the help of the local Pame people, and the facade of the church shows the mix of cultures that built it, with saints and angels carved beside local plants, mermaids and faces that look more indigenous than European. All five missions were listed as a World Heritage site in 2003.

    Read the complete San Miguel Concá write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    San Miguel Concá, about halfway. Next is back through Santa María del Agua de Landa.

  5. 5. back through Santa María del Agua de Landa

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Santa María del Agua de Landa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Santa María del Agua de Landa sits at 168 km, about halfway. Next is back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol.

  6. 6. back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol comes up about 246 km into the recorded legs. Next is Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of.

  7. 7. Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of closes the day.

Leg by leg

Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of to Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of → Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol to Santa María del Agua de Landa

Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol → Santa María del Agua de Landa is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Santa María del Agua de Landa to San Miguel Concá

Santa María del Agua de Landa → San Miguel Concá is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

San Miguel Concá to back through Santa María del Agua de Landa

San Miguel Concá → back through Santa María del Agua de Landa is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Santa María del Agua de Landa to back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

back through Santa María del Agua de Landa → back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol to Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of

back through Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol → Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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