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.
A 352 km round trip from Militello in Val di Catania - roughly 6 h 32 in the saddle. The stops in between: Caltagirone, Villa Romana del Casale, Ragusa and back through Villa Romana del Casale. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
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 Caltagirone.
Caltagirone is a city built on ceramics. Perched on a ridge in the hills of south-east Sicily, it has been making pottery since ancient times, and the tradition is everywhere: majolica tiles on balconies, bridges and church domes, pottery shops lining the streets and a museum devoted to the craft. Its most famous sight is the Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte, a staircase of well over a hundred steps climbing from the lower town to a church at the top, each riser decorated with hand-painted tiles in different patterns and colours. In late July, for the feast of Saint James, the staircase is lit with thousands of oil lamps arranged in designs, a magical sight.
Read the complete Caltagirone write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caltagirone comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is Villa Romana del Casale.
Somewhere in the fourth century AD, a very rich Roman, perhaps a senator or an imperial official, built a country villa in the hills of central Sicily and covered its floors with mosaics. The Villa Romana del Casale, just outside Piazza Armerina, has some of the finest and most extensive Roman floor mosaics anywhere, around 3,500 square metres, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1997. Buried by a landslide in the Middle Ages, the villa was rediscovered and excavated mainly in the twentieth century, and the mosaics were preserved remarkably well.
Read the complete Villa Romana del Casale write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 80 km into the recorded legs you reach Villa Romana del Casale. Next is Ragusa.
In 1693 a terrible earthquake destroyed much of south-eastern Sicily, and the towns of the Val di Noto were rebuilt in the baroque style of the time, creating a group of towns of extraordinary beauty, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ragusa is one of them, a town divided into two parts: Ragusa Superiore, the newer town on the ridge, built after the earthquake, and Ragusa Ibla, the old town on a lower hill, rebuilt on its medieval street plan.
Read the complete Ragusa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ragusa, about halfway. Next is back through Villa Romana del Casale.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villa Romana del Casale write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Villa Romana del Casale sits at 192 km, about halfway. Next is back through Caltagirone.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caltagirone write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Caltagirone comes up about 307 km into the recorded legs. 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.
Militello Val di Catania closes the day.
Militello Val di Catania → Caltagirone is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Caltagirone → Villa Romana del Casale is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa Romana del Casale → Ragusa is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ragusa → back through Villa Romana del Casale is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Villa Romana del Casale → back through Caltagirone is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Caltagirone → Militello Val di Catania is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.