CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
305 km from Ad Dānā to Ad Dānā, about 5 h 11 of riding. The stops in between: Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, Ancient City of Aleppo, Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha and back through Ancient City of Aleppo. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
On the limestone ridge of Jebel Barisha, in north-west Syria near the Turkish border at Reyhanlı, lie the stone ruins of Deirouné, one of the hundreds of late Roman and Byzantine villages that UNESCO lists as the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, often called the Dead Cities. Between roughly the first and seventh centuries, farmers here grew olives and vines on the uplands, prospered, and built houses, churches and olive presses in finely cut stone. When the trade networks that sustained them collapsed, the villages were slowly abandoned, and the dry climate left them remarkably intact.
Read the complete Jebel Barisha Deirouné write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jebel Barisha Deirouné is where the day begins. Next is Ancient Villages of Northern Syria.
On the limestone hills west of Aleppo, hundreds of abandoned villages stand in a landscape of olive groves and stony fields, their houses, churches, oil presses and tombs built of finely cut stone between the first and seventh centuries. These are the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, often called the Dead Cities, listed by UNESCO in 2011. They were prosperous farming communities in the late Roman and Byzantine periods, growing olives and grapes for trade, and were abandoned for reasons still debated, perhaps changing trade routes and the political upheavals of the seventh century.
Read the complete Ancient Villages of Northern Syria write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ancient Villages of Northern Syria comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ancient City of Aleppo.
Aleppo has a claim to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and for most of its history it was a great trading city at the western end of the Silk Road. Its old town, listed by UNESCO in 1986, grew around a massive citadel on a mound in the centre, ringed by a moat and entered through a fortified gateway and bridge, mostly the work of the Ayyubid rulers in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Around it lay the souqs, kilometres of covered markets, among the largest in the Middle East, and caravanserais, mosques, madrasas and fine courtyard houses.
Read the complete Ancient City of Aleppo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Ancient City of Aleppo. Next is Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha.
Scattered across the limestone hills of north-western Syria, between Aleppo and Idlib, lie hundreds of abandoned villages from late antiquity, built of finely cut stone between the first and seventh centuries and then gradually deserted. They are known as the Dead Cities, and together they form the World Heritage site of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria. Ruweiha, in the Jebel Zawiye, is one of the largest: houses, churches, tombs and oil presses spread over a wide area, and among them the church of Bizzos, named after a local notable whose domed tomb stands beside it, is one of the best preserved. These villages grew rich on olive oil and trade, and their stone architecture, with arched doorways, carved lintels and crosses, is remarkably intact.
Read the complete Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha, about halfway. Next is back through Ancient City of Aleppo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancient City of Aleppo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Ancient City of Aleppo sits at 216 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ancient Villages of Northern Syria.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancient Villages of Northern Syria write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Ancient Villages of Northern Syria comes up about 272 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jebel Barisha Deirouné.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jebel Barisha Deirouné write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jebel Barisha Deirouné closes the day.
Jebel Barisha Deirouné → Ancient Villages of Northern Syria is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ancient Villages of Northern Syria → Ancient City of Aleppo is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ancient City of Aleppo → Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Jebel Zawiyé 2 Rouweiha → back through Ancient City of Aleppo is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Ancient City of Aleppo → back through Ancient Villages of Northern Syria is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ancient Villages of Northern Syria → Jebel Barisha Deirouné is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.