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 287 km round trip from Ossi - roughly 5 h 20 in the saddle. It goes by way of Necropolis of Puttu Codinu, Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju, Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante and back through Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 39 km this is Sardinia Alghero to Bosa Coast Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Inland from Sassari, the Logudoro is a country of limestone ridges, small towns of honey-coloured stone and fields enclosed by dry walls, and in its folds lies the necropolis of Mesu 'e Montes, near the villages of Ossi, Muros and Florinas. It is a group of domus de janas, the rock-cut tombs of Sardinia's prehistoric farmers, some of them richly decorated with carved pillars, false doors and the stylised bull horns that seem to have been a symbol of protection or power.
Read the complete Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes is where the day begins. Next is Necropolis of Puttu Codinu.
Domus de janas means houses of the fairies, and that is what Sardinians called the small chambers cut into rock faces across the island, believing them to be the homes of tiny supernatural women. They are in fact tombs, carved out by the island's Neolithic and Copper Age people some five thousand years ago, often with rooms arranged like houses, carved doorways, false roof beams and symbols such as bulls' horns. The necropolis of Puttu Codinu, near Villanova Monteleone in north-west Sardinia, is a group of these tombs cut into a low limestone outcrop amid fields and scrub, one of thousands across the island.
Read the complete Necropolis of Puttu Codinu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Necropolis of Puttu Codinu comes up about 42 km into the recorded legs. Next is Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju.
Not far from Alghero, on the flat land behind the coast, lies the largest group of domus de janas in Sardinia. Anghelu Ruju is a necropolis of more than thirty rock-cut tombs, dug into the sandstone with stone tools around five thousand years ago and later reused for burials into the Bronze Age. The site was found in 1903 when workers were preparing land for a vineyard, and excavations revealed chambers with carved bull's horns, false doorways and painted ochre, together with pottery, figurines and personal ornaments now displayed in museums in Sassari and Cagliari. The bull motifs are thought to have been linked to fertility and protection, and they give these dim chambers a surprisingly powerful presence.
Read the complete Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 81 km into the recorded legs you reach Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju. Next is Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante.
On the side of the main road below Castelsardo, in northern Sardinia, a huge reddish rock stands alone at a bend, and it really does look like an elephant, trunk lowered, as if about to drink. It is a block of volcanic trachyte that broke away from the hills above and was sculpted by wind and rain into its strange shape. What most passing drivers miss is that its base was used long before anyone thought of elephants: two prehistoric tombs, domus de janas, were cut into the rock in the Neolithic period, and in one of them carved horn shapes, the symbol of the bull, can still be made out.
Read the complete Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante, about halfway. Next is back through Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju sits at 156 km, about halfway. Next is back through Necropolis of Puttu Codinu.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Necropolis of Puttu Codinu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Necropolis of Puttu Codinu comes up about 243 km into the recorded legs. Next is Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes closes the day.
Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes → Necropolis of Puttu Codinu is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Puttu Codinu → Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju → Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante → back through Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju → back through Necropolis of Puttu Codinu is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Necropolis of Puttu Codinu → Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.