Why this ride
129 km from Mérida to Mérida, about 2 h 33 of riding. It goes by way of Cornalvo Dam, Thermal Baths at Alange and back through Cornalvo Dam. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
National Museum of Roman Art and Thermal Baths at Alange
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 129 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 33
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Scenic road chapters
Ruta de la Plata
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 17 km this is Ruta de la Plata, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 17 km
- Named road
- Ruta de la Plata
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. National Museum of Roman Art
Rafael Moneo's museum in Mérida is a building that makes Roman engineering look contemporary. Opened in 1986, it is built of thin Roman-style bricks in a set of tall arches that echo the arcades of the aqueducts, and as you walk inside the great central nave you feel as though you have wandered into an imaginary basilica. The architect won the Pritzker Prize in 1996, and this building is among the works that made his name. It stands on the site of Roman Emerita Augusta, and below it lie the remains of streets and houses, which you can visit on a lower level.
Read the complete National Museum of Roman Art write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
National Museum of Roman Art is where the day begins. Next is Cornalvo Dam.
2. Cornalvo Dam
Nearly two thousand years after Roman engineers built it, the dam at Cornalvo still holds water. It lies in the rolling countryside north-east of Mérida, in Extremadura, and it supplied the Roman city of Augusta Emerita, capital of the province of Lusitania. The dam is an earthen embankment faced with stone, with a tower in the reservoir that controlled the outflow, and it is part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Cornalvo Dam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cornalvo Dam comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Thermal Baths at Alange.
3. Thermal Baths at Alange
The Romans, who were serious about hot water, found a warm spring at Alange in what is now Extremadura and built a bathing complex around it, and the place is still used today. The Roman baths, about twenty kilometres from Mérida, include a domed chamber with stone benches and a pool fed by the spring, and the water comes out pleasantly warm, a gift in a dry country. The baths date from the time when Mérida, then called Emerita Augusta, was one of the great cities of Roman Spain, and wealthy citizens would travel here to relax and be cured.
Read the complete Thermal Baths at Alange write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Thermal Baths at Alange. Next is back through Cornalvo Dam.
4. back through Cornalvo Dam
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cornalvo Dam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cornalvo Dam, late in the day. Next is National Museum of Roman Art.
5. National Museum of Roman Art
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete National Museum of Roman Art write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at National Museum of Roman Art. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
National Museum of Roman Art to Cornalvo Dam
National Museum of Roman Art → Cornalvo Dam is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cornalvo Dam to Thermal Baths at Alange
Cornalvo Dam → Thermal Baths at Alange is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thermal Baths at Alange to back through Cornalvo Dam
Thermal Baths at Alange → back through Cornalvo Dam is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cornalvo Dam to National Museum of Roman Art
back through Cornalvo Dam → National Museum of Roman Art is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.