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 Culfa it runs 533 km to Culfa; allow about 9 h 28 of riding. It goes by way of The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus, Khoy and back through The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus is known locally as Qara Kelisa, the Black Church, and the name comes from the dark stone used in its lower walls, set against lighter stone above. It stands in the hills of north-western Iran, in West Azerbaijan province, in a green valley where the road runs between orchards and low ridges. Tradition says that the apostle Thaddeus founded a church here in the first century and was buried on the spot, and while no one can prove that, the site has been a place of Armenian pilgrimage for many centuries.
Read the complete The main church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The main church is where the day begins. Next is The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus.
On a bare hillside near the border between Iran and Turkey, close to the foot of Mount Ararat, stands a black-and-white church that has survived earthquakes, wars and neglect for most of a thousand years. The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus, known in Iran as Qara Kelisa, the Black Church, is one of the oldest and most revered Armenian churches in the world. It is built of alternating bands of black and white stone, in a way that gives it a striking, almost chequered appearance, and it stands in a high, windy valley of the north-west.
Read the complete The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus comes up about 110 km into the recorded legs. Next is Khoy.
Khoy is the big, practical city of Iran's far north-west, a place of about a hundred and seventy-five thousand people on a wide fertile plain between the Turkish border and Lake Urmia. It is not a showpiece. It is a working town of bazaars, apricot and grape growers, trucking depots and solid apartment blocks, and that is exactly what makes it useful. This is where you buy supplies, change money, find a proper meal and get fuel before the road climbs toward the mountains.
Read the complete Khoy write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 259 km into the recorded legs you reach Khoy. Next is back through The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus, late in the day. Next is The main church.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The main church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at The main church. That is the ride.
The main church → The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus is 110 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus → Khoy is 149 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Khoy → back through The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus is 164 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus → The main church is 110 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.