Why this ride
From Serralunga di Crea it runs 261 km to Serralunga di Crea; allow about 4 h 13 of riding. It goes by way of Zona di Commando, Castello di Pollenzo and back through Zona di Commando. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun and Castello di Pollenzo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 261 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 13
- 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. Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun
On a wooded hill above the vineyards of the Monferrato, between Casale and Asti, stands the Sacro Monte di Crea, one of the nine Sacred Mountains of Piedmont and Lombardy that are listed together as a World Heritage Site. The sanctuary of Santa Maria Assunta, a pilgrimage church, sits on the slope, and above it a path climbs through the woods past a series of chapels, each with terracotta statues and painted scenes from the life of the Virgin, to the Chapel of Paradise at the summit, with a crowd of figures depicting her coronation.
Read the complete Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun is where the day begins. Next is Zona di Commando.
2. Zona di Commando
Turin is the city that made the Savoy dynasty into the kings of Italy, and the area known as the Zona di Comando, the Command Zone, is the heart of that story. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the dukes of Savoy, who had moved their capital to Turin in 1563, laid out a grand ensemble of palaces, courtyards and arcades around the old castle, turning a provincial town into a stage for royal power. Piazza Castello is the centre, with the Palazzo Madama, a medieval castle with a baroque facade, and the Palazzo Reale, the royal palace, with its gardens and the Royal Armoury. It is part of the UNESCO group of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, listed in 1997.
Read the complete Zona di Commando write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zona di Commando comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Castello di Pollenzo.
3. Castello di Pollenzo
The village of Pollenzo was a Roman town, Pollentia, long before it was a Savoy estate, and in 402 a Roman army under Stilicho fought Alaric's Visigoths nearby in one of the last great battles of the Western Empire. Today the name means food. The castle and the neo-Gothic agricultural complex built around it by King Carlo Alberto in the nineteenth century, the Agenzia, now house the University of Gastronomic Sciences, founded by the Slow Food movement, which was born in nearby Bra. The estate is part of the UNESCO-listed Residences of the Royal House of Savoy.
Read the complete Castello di Pollenzo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 132 km into the recorded legs you reach Castello di Pollenzo. Next is back through Zona di Commando.
4. back through Zona di Commando
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zona di Commando write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Zona di Commando, late in the day. Next is Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun, 62 km on.
5. Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun to Zona di Commando
Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun → Zona di Commando is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zona di Commando to Castello di Pollenzo
Zona di Commando → Castello di Pollenzo is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Castello di Pollenzo to back through Zona di Commando
Castello di Pollenzo → back through Zona di Commando is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Zona di Commando to Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun
back through Zona di Commando → Sacro Monte di S.Maria Assunta di Serralun is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.