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 Batalha it runs 248 km to Batalha; allow about 3 h 28 of riding. The stops in between: Convent of Christ in Tomar, University of Coimbra - Alta and Sofia and back through Convent of Christ in Tomar. The line favours views over speed.
On 14 August 1385, near the village of Aljubarrota, a Portuguese army led by King João I defeated a much larger Castilian force, securing Portugal's independence. Before the battle the king had vowed to build a great monastery to the Virgin Mary if he won, and he kept his word. The Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória, known simply as Batalha, which means battle, rose over the following century and more, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture in pale limestone, with flying buttresses, pinnacles and intricately carved portals. It was listed by UNESCO in 1983.
Read the complete Monastery of Batalha write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Monastery of Batalha 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 45 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 125 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 Batalha.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastery of Batalha write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Monastery of Batalha. That is the ride.
Monastery of Batalha → Convent of Christ in Tomar is 45 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 Batalha is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.