Roztochya and Rohatyn-Tserkva of the Descent of the Holy
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
292 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 32
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
292 km from Novoyavorivs'k to Novoyavorivs'k, about 5 h 32 of riding. On the way it passes Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity, Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche, Rohatyn-Tserkva of the of the Holy and back through Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Roztochya
Roztochia is a low, wooded ridge that runs like a spine from southeastern Poland down to the outskirts of Lviv, and on its Ukrainian end, between Ivano-Frankove and Novoyavorivsk, lies the Roztochia nature reserve. Its old beech woods were added in 2017 to the UNESCO listing of Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, a chain of forests that tells the story of how beech recolonised the continent after the Ice Age. The ridge is also a watershed: rain that falls on one side ends up in the Baltic by way of the Vistula, and on the other in the Black Sea by way of the Dniester. Standing on a hilltop and knowing that is oddly satisfying.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roztochya is where the day begins. Next is Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity.
2. Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity
Zhovkva was designed as an ideal Renaissance town. In the late sixteenth century, Stanisław Żółkiewski, a Polish nobleman and military commander, founded it north of Lviv with a castle, a market square, churches and fortifications laid out according to the principles of the time. Later, the town was a favourite residence of King Jan III Sobieski, who defeated the Ottomans at Vienna in 1683. The Tserkva of the Holy Trinity, a wooden church built in 1720, stands on the edge of the town, and it is part of the UNESCO-listed Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine, inscribed in 2013.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity comes up about 44 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche.
3. Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche
Above Lviv's old town rises a wooded hill that locals simply call the High Castle, Vysokyi Zamok, and below it, tucked against its slopes, lies Pidzamche, whose name means under the castle. For a rider used to the cobbled squares at the centre, this is the quiet back door of the city: older, scruffier and more honest. The castle itself is long gone, a victim of the sieges and demolitions of earlier centuries, and what remains are earthworks and a few fragments of wall. What you climb for is the view. From the top, some four hundred metres above sea level, the red roofs and church spires of Lviv spread out in a patchwork, and on a clear evening the light turns the whole city gold.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche. Next is Rohatyn-Tserkva of the Descent of the Holy.
4. Rohatyn-Tserkva of the Descent of the Holy
Local tradition says that Roksolana, the girl who became the wife of the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, was born in Rohatyn. Whether or not that is true, the town in the Galician foothills of western Ukraine has been telling the story for centuries, and a statue and a museum keep it alive. Rohatyn sits on the small river Hnyla Lypa, east of the Carpathians, in a country of low hills, orchards and wheat fields, and its pride is a small wooden church dedicated to the Descent of the Holy Spirit, built in the late sixteenth century and still standing near the old market square.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roztochya closes the day.
Leg by leg
Roztochya to Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity
Roztochya → Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity to Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche
Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity → Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche to Rohatyn-Tserkva of the Descent of the Holy
Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche → Rohatyn-Tserkva of the Descent of the Holy is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Rohatyn-Tserkva of the Descent of the Holy to back through Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche
Rohatyn-Tserkva of the Descent of the Holy → back through Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche to back through Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity
back through Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche → back through Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity to Roztochya
back through Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity → Roztochya is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.