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 380 km round trip from Horezu - roughly 7 h 25 in the saddle. It goes by way of Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude, Village of Valea Viilor and back through Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Constantin Brâncoveanu, prince of Wallachia at the end of the seventeenth century, was a wealthy, cultured ruler who built churches, palaces and monasteries across his principality, and Horezu was his masterpiece. Founded in 1690, the monastery sits in a quiet valley in the foothills of the Căpățânii mountains, surrounded by walls, with a church at the centre of a courtyard lined with arcaded cells. It is the finest example of the Brâncovenesc style, a blend of Byzantine, Renaissance and Baroque, with carved stone, painted interiors and elegant porches, and it was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1993. In 1714, Brâncoveanu and his four sons were executed by the Ottomans in Istanbul; the Romanian Orthodox Church later canonised them as martyrs.
Read the complete Monastery of Horezu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Monastery of Horezu is where the day begins. Next is Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude.
The Olt does something improbable south of Sibiu. Instead of going around the Carpathians, it cuts straight through them, carving a deep, winding gorge between the Făgăraș and Lotru ranges, and for two thousand years that gorge has been one of the great gateways between Transylvania and Wallachia. At its northern mouth, near the village of Boița, the Romans built a fort they called Caput Stenarum, the head of the narrows, to guard the entrance.
Read the complete Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude comes up about 117 km into the recorded legs. Next is Village of Valea Viilor.
Valea Viilor means Valley of the Vineyards, and the name is honest: the slopes around the village were planted with vines long before anyone thought of mapping them. The Saxons called it Wurmloch, and its fortified church, a tall Gothic hall with a defensive storey built over the choir and a ring wall around it, is one of the seven on the World Heritage list.
Read the complete Village of Valea Viilor write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 189 km into the recorded legs you reach Village of Valea Viilor. Next is back through Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude, late in the day. Next is Monastery of Horezu.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastery of Horezu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Monastery of Horezu. That is the ride.
Monastery of Horezu → Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude is 117 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude → Village of Valea Viilor is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Village of Valea Viilor → back through Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude → Monastery of Horezu is 118 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.