Roztochya and Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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.

   Read the complete Roztochya write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   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. 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.

   Read the complete Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   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. 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.

   Read the complete Vysokyi Zamok and Pidzamche write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   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 back through Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity.

4. 4. back through Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Zhovkva-Tserkva of the Holy Trinity, late in the day. Next is Roztochya.

5. 5. Roztochya

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Roztochya write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Roztochya. That is the ride.