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 Alcobaça it runs 288 km to Alcobaça; allow about 4 h 07 of riding. It goes by way of Convent of Christ in Tomar, University of Coimbra - Alta and Sofia and back through Convent of Christ in Tomar. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
In 1153, Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, gave a vast estate to the Cistercian monks of Bernard of Clairvaux, and they built here one of the greatest monasteries of medieval Europe. The church of Alcobaça, with its long, soaring nave of pale stone, is austere and beautiful in the Cistercian manner, and the cloisters, dormitory, chapter house and refectory survive almost intact. The kitchen is enormous, with a huge chimney and a stream diverted through it so the monks could catch fish directly. UNESCO listed the monastery in 1989. But the main reason most visitors come is a love story.
Read the complete Monastery of Alcobaça write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Monastery of Alcobaça is where the day begins. Next is Convent of Christ in Tomar.
The Knights Templar chose the hill above Tomar in the twelfth century, building a castle to defend the new kingdom of Portugal against the Moors, and at its heart they raised a round church, the Charola, modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. When the Templars were suppressed in the fourteenth century, the Portuguese king transferred their property to a new order, the Order of Christ, which went on to finance much of Portugal's maritime expansion; Henry the Navigator was its governor. Over the centuries, the order added cloisters, chapels and dormitories, and the Convent of Christ became one of the great monuments of Portugal, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1983.
Read the complete Convent of Christ in Tomar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Convent of Christ in Tomar comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is University of Coimbra - Alta and Sofia.
Coimbra's university is one of the oldest in Europe, founded in 1290 in Lisbon and finally settled in Coimbra in 1537, when King João III installed it in the old royal palace on the hill. The Alta, the upper town, grew around it, and the whole hill, along with Rua da Sofia below, is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Students still walk the lanes in black capes, and the city is built around them in a way few other towns in Europe still are.
Read the complete University of Coimbra - Alta and Sofia write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 145 km into the recorded legs you reach University of Coimbra - Alta and Sofia. Next is back through Convent of Christ in Tomar.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Convent of Christ in Tomar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Convent of Christ in Tomar, late in the day. Next is Monastery of Alcobaça.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastery of Alcobaça write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Monastery of Alcobaça. That is the ride.
Monastery of Alcobaça → Convent of Christ in Tomar is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Convent of Christ in Tomar → University of Coimbra - Alta and Sofia is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
University of Coimbra - Alta and Sofia → back through Convent of Christ in Tomar is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Convent of Christ in Tomar → Monastery of Alcobaça is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.