Why this ride
A 125 km round trip from Mérida - roughly 2 h 30 in the saddle. The stops in between: Cornalvo Dam, Thermal Baths at Alange and back through Cornalvo Dam. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower and Thermal Baths at Alange
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 125 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 30
- 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. Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower
The Alcazaba of Mérida is a square fortress beside the Roman bridge over the Guadiana, built in 835 on the orders of the emir Abd al-Rahman II of Córdoba to control the city after local rebellions. What fascinates visitors is how it was built: the Muslim engineers used stone taken from Roman buildings, including inscribed blocks, column bases and fragments of old walls, so the fortress is a collage of earlier centuries. Inside there is a remarkable water cistern, reached by a stairway down toward the river level, where water filtered into a covered tank that shows how carefully the builders thought about water.
Read the complete Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower 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 Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower.
5. Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower to Cornalvo Dam
Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower → 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 Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower
back through Cornalvo Dam → Roman Wall and Albarrana Islamic Tower is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.