Why this ride
328 km from Darkūsh to Darkūsh, about 7 h 10 of riding. It goes by way of Jebel Barisha Deirouné, Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo, Ancient City of Aleppo and Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb and Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 328 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 10
- 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. Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb
Along the limestone uplands of north-western Syria, close to the Turkish border, lie the remains of hundreds of abandoned villages from late antiquity, the so-called Dead Cities. Kafr Aqareb, on the Jebel Wastani, is one of them, part of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria listed by UNESCO in 2011. These were prosperous farming communities between roughly the first and seventh centuries, growing olives, grapes and grain, and producing oil that was traded across the Roman and Byzantine world. They built in stone, with remarkable skill: houses, churches, bath houses, olive presses and tombs, many still standing to roof height. When trade routes shifted and the region changed hands, the villages were gradually abandoned, leaving ghost towns that look as if their inhabitants left only recently.
Read the complete Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb is where the day begins. Next is Jebel Barisha Deirouné.
2. Jebel Barisha Deirouné
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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jebel Barisha Deirouné comes up about 46 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo.
3. Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo
Northern Syria has a landscape of limestone hills crowded with the shells of ancient villages, and the Jebel Sem'an, the Mountain of Simeon, is the heart of it. Between the fourth and seventh centuries, when this region was a prosperous corner of the late Roman and then Byzantine world, farmers grew olives and grapes on the stony hills and built their homes, churches, baths and presses of fine dressed stone. When trade routes shifted and the Arab conquests came, the villages emptied, but the buildings were so solid that they remained, roofless but recognisable. The best of them, grouped into a number of parks, were inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2011 as the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria.
Read the complete Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 89 km into the recorded legs you reach Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo. Next is Ancient City of Aleppo.
4. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ancient City of Aleppo, about halfway. Next is Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar.
5. Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar
The limestone massif north-west of Aleppo, in Syria, is one of the most remarkable archaeological landscapes in the Middle East, but it has also been in a war zone for more than a decade, and travel there is not safe or practical. What follows is about what the place is, not an invitation to visit.
Read the complete Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ancient City of Aleppo.
6. back through Ancient City of Aleppo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancient City of Aleppo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ancient City of Aleppo comes up about 197 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo.
7. back through Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 239 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo. Next is back through Jebel Barisha Deirouné.
8. back through Jebel Barisha Deirouné
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jebel Barisha Deirouné write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Jebel Barisha Deirouné, late in the day. Next is Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb.
9. Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 328 km.
Leg by leg
Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb to Jebel Barisha Deirouné
Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb → Jebel Barisha Deirouné is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jebel Barisha Deirouné to Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo
Jebel Barisha Deirouné → Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo to Ancient City of Aleppo
Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo → Ancient City of Aleppo is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ancient City of Aleppo to Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar
Ancient City of Aleppo → Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar to back through Ancient City of Aleppo
Jebel Sem’an 3 Sinkhar → back through Ancient City of Aleppo is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ancient City of Aleppo to back through Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo
back through Ancient City of Aleppo → back through Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo to back through Jebel Barisha Deirouné
back through Jebel Sem’an 2 KafrNabo → back through Jebel Barisha Deirouné is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jebel Barisha Deirouné to Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb
back through Jebel Barisha Deirouné → Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.