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 550 km round trip from Bonorva - roughly 10 h 47 in the saddle. On the way it passes Necropolis of Brodu, Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa, Necropolis of Istevéne and Su Nuraxi di Barumini. The line favours views over speed.
Bonorva sits on the edge of a high plateau in central-northern Sardinia, a town of grey stone looking out over the plain of Santa Lucia. Around it, the land is dotted with prehistoric remains, and the necropolis of Sa Pala Larga is one of several groups of domus de janas cut into the rock in this area. The rock-cut tombs are older than the nuraghi, and many have intricate interiors.
Read the complete Necropolis of Sa Pala Larga write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Necropolis of Sa Pala Larga is where the day begins. Next is Necropolis of Brodu.
Barbagia is the rugged heart of Sardinia, a land of granite hills, shepherds and fiercely held traditions, and on its western edge, near the village of Oniferi, the rock-cut tombs of Brodu are among the most elaborate on the island. Like other domus de janas, these chambers were carved into the stone by the people of the Neolithic Ozieri culture and later, but here several of them have carved decoration inside: false doors, imitation roof beams and, in some, the curved horn motifs that are thought to represent the bull, a symbol of strength and fertility that appears again and again in Sardinian prehistory.
Read the complete Necropolis of Brodu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Necropolis of Brodu comes up about 54 km into the recorded legs. Next is Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa.
The high country of central Sardinia, between the Tirso river and the hills of the Barbagia, is a landscape of basalt plateaus, cork forests, small stone villages and long, empty views. The nearest places on our list, Nughedu Santa Vittoria and Neoneli, are small villages with only a few hundred people each, and the town of Macomer is some twenty-five kilometres away. The prehistoric story here is about how the island's early people treated their dead, and the title reflects that.
Read the complete Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 110 km into the recorded legs you reach Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa. Next is Necropolis of Istevéne.
In Sardinian folklore, the little rock-cut tombs scattered across the island were the homes of janas, tiny fairies or witches who wove on golden looms and came out at night. Archaeologists call them domus de janas, fairy houses, and date them to the Neolithic and Copper Age, thousands of years before the famous nuraghi towers. The necropolis of Istevéne, near Mamoiada in the heart of the Barbagia, is a group of these chambers cut into the granite, some with carved details imitating the beams and doorways of real houses, and it belongs among the prehistoric Sardinian tombs that have gained UNESCO recognition.
Read the complete Necropolis of Istevéne write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Necropolis of Istevéne, about halfway. Next is Su Nuraxi di Barumini.
Nobody quite knew what lay under the mound outside Barumini until the 1950s, when the archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu, himself a native of the village, began to dig. What emerged was the most complete nuragic complex on Sardinia: a central stone tower built in the Bronze Age, later surrounded by a bastion with four corner towers and an outer wall, and beyond that the remains of a village of round huts. Su Nuraxi was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997, and it remains the best place on the island to understand the nuragic civilisation, which left thousands of these towers across Sardinia.
Read the complete Su Nuraxi di Barumini write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Su Nuraxi di Barumini sits at 204 km, about halfway. Next is back through Necropolis of Istevéne.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Necropolis of Istevéne write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Necropolis of Istevéne comes up about 378 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 439 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa. Next is back through Necropolis of Brodu.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Necropolis of Brodu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Necropolis of Brodu, late in the day. Next is Necropolis of Sa Pala Larga.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Necropolis of Sa Pala Larga write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 550 km.
Necropolis of Sa Pala Larga → Necropolis of Brodu is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Brodu → Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa → Necropolis of Istevéne is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Istevéne → Su Nuraxi di Barumini is 105 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Su Nuraxi di Barumini → back through Necropolis of Istevéne is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Necropolis of Istevéne → back through Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa → back through Necropolis of Brodu is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Necropolis of Brodu → Necropolis of Sa Pala Larga is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.