Why this ride
A 226 km round trip from Spoleto - roughly 3 h 37 in the saddle. The stops in between: Assisi, The Clitunno Tempietto, Ville d'Assise and back through The Clitunno Tempietto.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The basilica of San Salvatore and Ville d'Assise
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 226 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 37
- 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. The basilica of San Salvatore
Spoleto is a hill town in Umbria with a past much longer than most people expect. It was a Roman colony, then the capital of a Lombard duchy, and the Lombards, who came into Italy in the sixth century, ruled a great swathe of the peninsula from here. The basilica of San Salvatore lies just outside the old centre, below the hill, and few churches in Italy are older, dating from the fourth or fifth century and reshaped in the early Middle Ages. Its pale, plain facade looks classical, with a triple doorway and carved frieze, because its builders reused Roman fragments and copied Roman forms.
Read the complete The basilica of San Salvatore write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The basilica of San Salvatore is where the day begins. Next is Assisi.
2. Assisi
From the valley floor Assisi looks like a long pale ribbon draped across the lower slope of Monte Subasio, and the colour comes from the mountain itself. The town is built of Subasio stone, a limestone that ranges from cream to rose, and in the evening light the whole place glows pink. It is, of course, the town of Francis, the merchant's son who gave away everything in the early thirteenth century and founded the Franciscan order, and of Clare, who followed him. The great basilica built over his tomb, begun in 1228, has two churches one above the other, and the frescoes inside, including the cycle of the saint's life traditionally attributed to Giotto, changed the course of European painting.
Read the complete Assisi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Assisi comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Clitunno Tempietto.
3. The Clitunno Tempietto
A few steps from the Via Flaminia, in the green flatland below Spoleto, there is a little building that scholars have argued about for centuries. The Tempietto del Clitunno looks like a miniature Roman temple, with a gabled front, columns and a carved cornice, but it is actually an early medieval church, made largely of reused Roman pieces and probably dating from somewhere between late antiquity and the time of the Lombards. It is among the group of Lombard sites in Italy that UNESCO listed in 2011, and part of its charm is that nobody is quite sure who built it or when.
Read the complete The Clitunno Tempietto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach The Clitunno Tempietto. Next is Ville d'Assise.
4. Ville d'Assise
Assisi sits on the western flank of Monte Subasio, and the first thing you notice is the colour. The stone, quarried from the mountain itself, is a pale pink-white that glows at sunset, and the whole town seems to hang off the slope above the Umbrian plain. It was the home of Saint Francis, born here around 1181, who gave up his father's cloth business to live in poverty, and the town built one of the great pilgrimage churches of Christendom around his tomb. The Basilica of San Francesco has two layers of frescoes by Giotto and his circle, and was badly shaken by the earthquake of 1997, when part of the vault fell. It reopened after careful restoration, and UNESCO listed Assisi in 2000.
Read the complete Ville d'Assise write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ville d'Assise, about halfway. Next is back through The Clitunno Tempietto.
5. back through The Clitunno Tempietto
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Clitunno Tempietto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Clitunno Tempietto sits at 167 km, about halfway. Next is back through Assisi.
6. back through Assisi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Assisi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Assisi comes up about 179 km into the recorded legs. Next is The basilica of San Salvatore.
7. The basilica of San Salvatore
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The basilica of San Salvatore write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The basilica of San Salvatore closes the day.
Leg by leg
The basilica of San Salvatore to Assisi
The basilica of San Salvatore → Assisi is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Assisi to The Clitunno Tempietto
Assisi → The Clitunno Tempietto is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Clitunno Tempietto to Ville d'Assise
The Clitunno Tempietto → Ville d'Assise is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ville d'Assise to back through The Clitunno Tempietto
Ville d'Assise → back through The Clitunno Tempietto is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Clitunno Tempietto to back through Assisi
back through The Clitunno Tempietto → back through Assisi is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Assisi to The basilica of San Salvatore
back through Assisi → The basilica of San Salvatore is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.