CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
From Novi Pazar it runs 437 km to Novi Pazar; allow about 7 h 43 of riding. The stops in between: Medieval Monuments in Kosovo, Church of the Virgin of Leviša and back through Medieval Monuments in Kosovo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Serbia into Kosovo - carry ID and check the toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
On a rocky hill above the town of Novi Pazar stands a small, round church, and it may be the oldest in Serbia. Petrova crkva, the church of St Peter, is a rotunda from the ninth or tenth century, built on the site of earlier foundations, and the medieval ruler Stefan Nemanja, who founded the Serbian state and the dynasty that followed, is said to have been baptised here. Its stone walls are worn, its interior is dim and its setting, with the town spreading out below and the hills behind, makes you feel the age. The surrounding area was the heart of the early Serbian kingdom, called Ras, and the area is protected as a World Heritage site, together with the nearby monastery of Sopocani.
Read the complete St. Peter's Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
St. Peter's Church is where the day begins. Next is Medieval Monuments in Kosovo.
The Patriarchate of Peć is a cluster of four churches under one red-tinged roof, tucked at the mouth of the Rugova gorge on the edge of the town of Peja in western Kosovo. It was the seat of the Serbian Orthodox archbishops from the thirteenth century, and the heart of the church for centuries, with the frescoed churches built and extended over generations. The effect inside is intimate, with low arches, dim light and walls covered in saints, and the nuns who live there today run a small shop with candles and icons. The place is part of the UNESCO listing of medieval monuments in Kosovo, from 2004, along with Dečani, Gračanica and the church of Our Lady of Ljeviš in Prizren.
Read the complete Medieval Monuments in Kosovo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Medieval Monuments in Kosovo comes up about 115 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of the Virgin of Leviša.
In the middle of Prizren's old town, behind a wall and a fence, stands a brick-and-stone church whose bell tower rises above the rooftops. This is the Church of the Virgin of Leviša, Bogorodica Ljeviška in Serbian, one of the most important medieval monuments in the Balkans. It was rebuilt in the early fourteenth century under the Serbian king Milutin on the site of an older church, and its interior was covered with frescoes that are among the finest of their time.
Read the complete Church of the Virgin of Leviša write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 215 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of the Virgin of Leviša. Next is back through Medieval Monuments in Kosovo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Medieval Monuments in Kosovo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Medieval Monuments in Kosovo, late in the day. Next is St. Peter's Church, 84 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete St. Peter's Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at St. Peter's Church. That is the ride.
St. Peter's Church → Medieval Monuments in Kosovo is 115 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Medieval Monuments in Kosovo → Church of the Virgin of Leviša is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Church of the Virgin of Leviša → back through Medieval Monuments in Kosovo is 107 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Medieval Monuments in Kosovo → St. Peter's Church is 115 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.