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Škocjan Caves and Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
341 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 38
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.

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Why this ride

341 km from Divača to Divača, about 6 h 38 of riding. On the way it passes Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the, Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power and back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Slovenia into Italy - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Scenic road chapters

Slovenia Soca Valley Road

Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 57 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.

Chapter facts
Length
101 km
Named road
Slovenia Soca Valley Road

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Škocjan Caves

    Underneath the sleepy stone villages of the Slovenian Karst, a river called the Reka plunges into the earth and carves one of the largest underground canyons known anywhere. The Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO site since 1986, are the reason the word karst became the scientific name for this kind of limestone landscape everywhere in the world. Inside, a narrow footbridge spans the Reka gorge far above the roaring water, the chamber walls disappear into darkness, and the scale is so huge that your mind struggles to accept it is all underground.

    Read the complete Škocjan Caves write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Škocjan Caves is where the day begins. Next is Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the.

  2. 2. Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the

    Deep in a wooded gorge above Idrija, where the stream called Idrijska Bela tumbles over pale limestone, stands one of the strangest pieces of old engineering in Slovenia: a klavže, a water barrier built of massive dressed stone blocks across the narrow valley. Its job had nothing to do with power or flood control. Idrija's mercury mine, one of the two largest in the world for centuries, devoured timber for its shafts and smelters, and the forests close to town were soon exhausted. So the miners built these dams on mountain streams, let water build up behind them, piled cut logs in the bed below and then opened the gates. The released flood swept the timber all the way down to Idrija, where it was caught at a rake across the river.

    Read the complete Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the comes up about 67 km into the recorded legs. Next is Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power, 52 km on.

  3. 3. Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power

    Cividale del Friuli was founded as Forum Iulii, a market town established by Julius Caesar, and it gave its name to the whole region of Friuli. In 568, when the Lombards crossed the Alps and invaded Italy, Cividale was the first city they took, and it became the seat of their first duchy. The Lombards ruled much of Italy for two centuries, and Cividale preserves some of the finest traces of their culture. The Tempietto Longobardo, a small eighth-century chapel overlooking the river, holds a row of stucco female saints of extraordinary grace, among the most beautiful works of art of the early Middle Ages. It is the centrepiece of the UNESCO listing of the Longobards in Italy, Places of the Power, along with sites from Brescia to Benevento. The National Archaeological Museum displays jewellery, weapons and grave goods from Lombard tombs.

    Read the complete Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 168 km into the recorded legs you reach Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power. Next is back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the.

  4. 4. back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the, late in the day. Next is Škocjan Caves.

  5. 5. Škocjan Caves

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Škocjan Caves write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Back at Škocjan Caves. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Škocjan Caves to Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the

Škocjan Caves → Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the to Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power

Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the → Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power is 101 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power to back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the

Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power → back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the to Škocjan Caves

back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the → Škocjan Caves is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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