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 Militello in Val di Catania it runs 466 km to Militello in Val di Catania; allow about 9 h 52 of riding. It goes by way of Modica, Megalithic Temples of Malta and back through Modica. It crosses from Italy into Malta - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Militello in Val di Catania is a small town in the hills south-west of Catania, in eastern Sicily, surrounded by orange groves and olive trees, with Mount Etna visible on the horizon. Like many towns in this part of Sicily, it was devastated by the earthquake of 1693, which destroyed much of the south-east of the island, and was rebuilt in the Baroque style. Its churches and palaces are part of the UNESCO-listed Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, inscribed in 2002, together with Noto, Ragusa, Modica, Caltagirone and others.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Militello Val di Catania is where the day begins. Next is Modica.
Modica was destroyed in 1693, rebuilt in a hurry, and the result is one of the most dramatic baroque towns in Europe. A great earthquake that January killed tens of thousands across south-eastern Sicily, and the towns of the Val di Noto rose again in a new style, with curved facades, carved balconies and grotesque stone faces looking down from the corners. UNESCO listed eight of them together in 2002, and Modica is one of the finest. It occupies two steep ridges and the gorge between them, and the houses climb up the sides in layers, so that a walk through the streets is mostly a matter of steps.
Read the complete Modica write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Modica comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Megalithic Temples of Malta.
Before there were pyramids in Egypt, or Stonehenge on its plain, people on a small Mediterranean island were building enormous stone temples, and some of them are still standing. The group at Ġgantija, on the island of Gozo, goes back to roughly 3600 BC, which makes it among the oldest free-standing monuments in the world. The walls are made of huge limestone blocks, some weighing several tonnes, and they curve into rounded chambers like the lobes of a clover leaf. Local legend said they were built by a giantess, and the name comes from the word for giant.
Read the complete Megalithic Temples of Malta write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 231 km into the recorded legs you reach Megalithic Temples of Malta. Next is back through Modica.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Modica write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Modica, late in the day. Next is Militello Val di Catania.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Militello Val di Catania. That is the ride.
Militello Val di Catania → Modica is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Modica → Megalithic Temples of Malta is 162 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Megalithic Temples of Malta → back through Modica is 161 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Modica → Militello Val di Catania is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.