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.
From Kafr Takhārīm it runs 179 km to Kafr Takhārīm; allow about 3 h 48 of riding. The stops in between: Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, Ancient City of Aleppo and back through Ancient Villages of Northern Syria. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
High on the limestone ridge of the Jebel al-A'la, in the north west of Syria near the Turkish border, stands one of the most beautiful early Christian churches anywhere. The basilica of Qalb Lozeh was built in the second half of the fifth century, probably as a pilgrimage church on the route to the shrine of Saint Simeon Stylites, the hermit who spent decades living on top of a pillar not far to the east. Its facade, with a great arch flanked by two towers, is one of the earliest examples of a design that would later be repeated in the Romanesque churches of Europe. The church is part of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, a UNESCO site listed in 2011, which includes some forty villages abandoned between the eighth and tenth centuries, often known as the Dead Cities.
Read the complete Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé 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 50 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 89 km into the recorded legs you reach Ancient City of Aleppo. 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, late in the day. Next is Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé. That is the ride.
Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé → Ancient Villages of Northern Syria is 50 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 → 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 → Jebelal-A’la QalbLozé is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.