Why this ride
From Scicli it runs 335 km to Scicli; allow about 5 h 51 of riding. The stops in between: Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, Epipolae, Noto and Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Scicli and Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 335 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 51
- 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. Scicli
In January 1693 an earthquake flattened much of south-eastern Sicily, and the towns that rose from the rubble were rebuilt in a confident, theatrical late baroque style. Scicli is one of the eight towns of the Val di Noto listed by UNESCO for that reason, and it may be the most charming. It sits at the meeting of three limestone gorges, with a rocky hill above crowned by the ruins of the old church of San Matteo, and a centre of honey-coloured churches and palaces whose balconies are held up by carved grotesque faces, horses, sirens and monsters.
Read the complete Scicli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scicli is where the day begins. Next is Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto.
2. 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
Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto comes up about 53 km into the recorded legs. Next is Epipolae.
3. 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
about 95 km into the recorded legs you reach Epipolae. Next is Noto.
4. Noto
Noto died on the evening of 11 January 1693 and was reborn on another hill. An earthquake that struck south-east Sicily that night destroyed dozens of towns, and killed tens of thousands of people. The survivors of Noto decided to abandon the old site, high on a mountain, and build a new town a few kilometres south, on a gentle slope nearer the sea. The result is a baroque city planned on a grid, with long streets, broad stairs and a succession of churches and palaces, all made of soft honey-coloured limestone that turns gold at sunset. The late baroque towns of the Val di Noto are listed by UNESCO, and Noto is the star.
Read the complete Noto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Noto, about halfway. Next is Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta.
5. Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta
Syracuse is far more than the island of Ortygia. The mainland district of Neapolis holds the Greek theatre, carved into the hillside and still used for classical drama in early summer, and the Latomie, the huge quarries from which the Greeks cut their stone, now filled with citrus trees and overhung with cliffs. The most famous cavity is the Ear of Dionysius, a tall curved cave with remarkable acoustics, which Caravaggio is said to have named when he visited in 1608. The same painter's Burial of Saint Lucy hangs in Syracuse too, dark and physical, with two gravediggers in the foreground dwarfing the saint.
Read the complete Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta sits at 155 km, about halfway. Next is back through Noto.
6. back through Noto
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Noto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Noto comes up about 207 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Epipolae.
7. back through Epipolae
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
about 249 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Epipolae. Next is back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Scicli.
9. Scicli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Scicli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 335 km.
Leg by leg
Scicli to Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto
Scicli → Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto is 53 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 Noto
Epipolae → Noto is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Noto to Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta
Noto → Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta to back through Noto
Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Panta → back through Noto is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Noto to back through Epipolae
back through Noto → back through Epipolae is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Epipolae to back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto
back through 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 Scicli
back through Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto → Scicli is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.