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 Paphos it runs 335 km to Paphos; allow about 6 h 34 of riding. The stops in between: Church of Archangelos Michael, Choirokoitia and back through Church of Archangelos Michael. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
The so-called Tombs of the Kings lie on the sea edge of Paphos, in the western corner of Cyprus, and the name is a bit of romance, because nobody royal was ever proven to be buried here. In fact the rock-cut tombs date to the Hellenistic and Roman periods, roughly the fourth century BC onward, and they were used by the high officials and wealthy citizens of Nea Paphos, the old capital of the island under the Ptolemies. The tombs are carved into the soft limestone, some with Doric columns around a central open court, so that you walk down a flight of steps into what looks like a sunken Greek house with a burial chamber on each side.
Read the complete Kato Paphos necropolis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Kato Paphos necropolis is where the day begins. Next is Church of Archangelos Michael.
From the outside, the church of the Archangel Michael at Pedoulas looks like a barn, with a steep wooden roof covered in flat tiles coming almost to the ground. Inside, its walls are covered with frescoes painted in 1474 by a local artist named Minas, with bright colours and lively scenes from the life of Christ and the saints, and the archangel himself presiding over the door. It is one of the painted churches in the Troodos region listed by UNESCO, a group of small Byzantine churches and monasteries whose humble exteriors hide some of the richest interiors in the Eastern Christian world.
Read the complete Church of Archangelos Michael write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Church of Archangelos Michael comes up about 75 km into the recorded legs. Next is Choirokoitia.
Long before the Greeks, the Phoenicians or the Romans arrived in Cyprus, people lived on a hillside above the Maroni river in the southern part of the island, in round stone houses with flat roofs, packed close together inside a defensive wall. Choirokoitia is a Neolithic settlement dating back to around the seventh millennium BC, one of the most important prehistoric sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The inhabitants farmed, herded animals and buried their dead under the floors of their houses. Several of the round houses have been reconstructed near the entrance, giving a vivid sense of how they lived. The site received UNESCO recognition in 1998.
Read the complete Choirokoitia write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 169 km into the recorded legs you reach Choirokoitia. Next is back through Church of Archangelos Michael.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of Archangelos Michael write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Church of Archangelos Michael, late in the day. Next is Kato Paphos necropolis.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kato Paphos necropolis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Kato Paphos necropolis. That is the ride.
Kato Paphos necropolis → Church of Archangelos Michael is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Archangelos Michael → Choirokoitia is 94 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Choirokoitia → back through Church of Archangelos Michael is 93 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Church of Archangelos Michael → Kato Paphos necropolis is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.