Why this ride
271 km from Palazzolo Acreide to Palazzolo Acreide, about 5 h 02 of riding. On the way it passes Ragusa, Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, Epipolae and back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Palazzolo Acreide and Epipolae
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 271 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 02
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Palazzolo Acreide
Long before the Baroque churches, there were the Greeks. In the seventh century BC, settlers from Syracuse founded a hilltop outpost here called Akrai, controlling the routes into the interior of Sicily. The remains of their town lie on the hill above modern Palazzolo Acreide: a small, beautifully preserved Greek theatre with views over the hills, stone quarries turned into burial chambers, and the Santoni, a series of rock-cut figures of the goddess Cybele, carved into a cliff face, weathered but still powerful.
Read the complete Palazzolo Acreide write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palazzolo Acreide is where the day begins. Next is Ragusa.
2. Ragusa
In 1693 a terrible earthquake destroyed much of south-eastern Sicily, and the towns of the Val di Noto were rebuilt in the baroque style of the time, creating a group of towns of extraordinary beauty, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ragusa is one of them, a town divided into two parts: Ragusa Superiore, the newer town on the ridge, built after the earthquake, and Ragusa Ibla, the old town on a lower hill, rebuilt on its medieval street plan.
Read the complete Ragusa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ragusa comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto.
3. Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto
On 11 January 1693, a catastrophic earthquake struck southeastern Sicily, destroying dozens of towns and killing tens of thousands of people. What happened next is one of the great chapters in the history of town planning. Noto, which stood on a hill some kilometres away, was abandoned, and a new town was built from scratch on a gentler slope, with a grid of streets, grand stairways, churches and palaces, all in the soft, honey-coloured local limestone that glows gold and pink at sunset. Together with seven other towns rebuilt after the earthquake, including Ragusa, Modica and Scicli, Noto was listed by UNESCO in 2002 as the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto.
Read the complete Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 97 km into the recorded legs you reach Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto. Next is Epipolae.
4. Epipolae
Above Syracuse the land rises in a long limestone terrace, a triangle of high ground pointing inland, and the ancient Greeks called it Epipolae, the place above the city. Whoever held it held Syracuse. During the great Athenian expedition against the city, between 415 and 413 BC, the fight for this plateau decided the war: the Athenians tried to wall Syracuse in from here, the Syracusans and their Spartan allies built counter-walls, and in the end the Athenian army was destroyed, with thousands of prisoners left to die in the stone quarries below. A few years later the tyrant Dionysius I enclosed the entire plateau with walls many kilometres long, and at its western tip he built the Castello Eurialo, one of the most complete Greek fortresses anywhere.
Read the complete Epipolae write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Epipolae, about halfway. Next is back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto.
5. back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto sits at 141 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ragusa.
6. back through Ragusa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ragusa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ragusa comes up about 234 km into the recorded legs. Next is Palazzolo Acreide.
7. Palazzolo Acreide
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palazzolo Acreide write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palazzolo Acreide closes the day.
Leg by leg
Palazzolo Acreide to Ragusa
Palazzolo Acreide → Ragusa is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ragusa to Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto
Ragusa → Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto to Epipolae
Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto → Epipolae is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Epipolae to back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto
Epipolae → back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto to back through Ragusa
back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto → back through Ragusa is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ragusa to Palazzolo Acreide
back through Ragusa → Palazzolo Acreide is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.