CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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203 km from Monteleone Rocca Doria to Monteleone Rocca Doria, about 4 h 23 of riding. It goes by way of Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu, Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes, Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro and Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 21 km this is Sardinia Alghero to Bosa Coast Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
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 is where the day begins. Next is Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu.
Sardinia is covered in small rock-cut tombs called domus de janas, the houses of the fairies, or of the witches depending on who tells the story. They were carved into soft rock by the island's Neolithic and Copper Age communities, more than five thousand years ago, and there are thousands of them, from single chambers to complex underground houses for the dead. The necropolis of Monte Siseri, near the village of Putifigari in the hills behind Alghero, includes the tomb known as S'Incantu, the enchantment, one of the most elaborate on the island. Its chambers imitate the interior of a house, with carved details such as roof beams, pillars and doorways, and traces of red and black paint that once decorated the walls. The domus de janas have recently joined the UNESCO World Heritage list, a long-overdue recognition of Sardinian prehistory.
Read the complete Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu comes up 21 km in. Next is Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes.
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.
42 km in you reach Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes. Next is Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro.
Most prehistoric tombs in Sardinia sit out in the countryside behind a gate and a dirt track. The domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parrocchiale are different: they are in Sennori itself, a few steps from the houses, carved into the soft limestone in what was once, as the name suggests, a garden belonging to the parish. A handful of chambers opens out of the rock, small rooms with low doorways, the work of Neolithic farmers who lived on this ridge thousands of years before anyone thought of building a church here.
Read the complete Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro, about halfway. Next is Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu.
Sardinians call them domus de janas, houses of the fairies, and when you crouch at the entrance of one you understand the name. They are tombs cut straight into the soft limestone by the island's Neolithic and Copper Age people, small chambers linked by low doorways, sometimes with carved false doors or bull horns on the walls. The necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu, just inland from Porto Torres, holds a couple of dozen of them scattered across a low rocky plateau among fields and scrub, one of the largest groups in the north of the island.
Read the complete Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu sits at 84 km, about halfway. Next is back through Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro comes up 105 km in. Next is back through 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.
126 km in you reach back through Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes. Next is back through Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu, late in the day. Next is 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.
The route ends here after 203 km.
Necropolis of Puttu Codinu → Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu → Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes → Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro → Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu → back through Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Domus de janas of Orto del Beneficio Parro → back through Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes → back through Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu → Necropolis of Puttu Codinu is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.