Why this ride
From Matera it runs 291 km to Matera; allow about 4 h 59 of riding. On the way it passes Quartiere Monti, Brundisium and back through Quartiere Monti. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C and Brundisium · 291 km from Matera
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 291 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 59
- 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 Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C
Matera is one of those places where the first view genuinely changes the mood of a day. You walk to the edge of the modern town, look down, and there are the Sassi: two hollows in the limestone filled with houses stacked on top of each other, their roofs serving as streets for the houses above, churches cut into the rock, staircases and alleys tumbling down to the edge of a deep ravine, the Gravina. Across the gorge, the Murgia plateau is riddled with caves and rock churches, some with Byzantine frescoes, used by monks and shepherds for over a thousand years. People have lived in these caves since prehistoric times, which makes Matera one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world.
Read the complete The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C is where the day begins. Next is Quartiere Monti.
2. Quartiere Monti
Alberobello looks like a fairy tale for about the first thirty seconds, and then you start wondering how on earth the trulli stay up. These little round houses of limestone, with conical roofs built of flat stones stacked in rings and no mortar at all, are a building tradition unique to this corner of Puglia, and the Rione Monti quarter on the southern hill of town has the densest concentration of them anywhere, around a thousand packed along a few steep lanes.
Read the complete Quartiere Monti write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Quartiere Monti comes up about 68 km into the recorded legs. Next is Brundisium.
3. Brundisium
Brindisi is where the Appian Way ends, and the Romans knew it as Brundisium. The old road ran from Rome across southern Italy to this harbour, the gateway to Greece and the East, and a tall Roman column near the waterfront marks its final stretch; a second column stood beside it until it was taken to Lecce in the seventeenth century. The harbour itself is a long, sheltered inlet, a natural port that has served merchants, crusaders and armies for more than two thousand years.
Read the complete Brundisium write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 146 km into the recorded legs you reach Brundisium. Next is back through Quartiere Monti.
4. back through Quartiere Monti
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Quartiere Monti write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Quartiere Monti, late in the day. Next is The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C.
5. The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C to Quartiere Monti
The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C → Quartiere Monti is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Quartiere Monti to Brundisium
Quartiere Monti → Brundisium is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Brundisium to back through Quartiere Monti
Brundisium → back through Quartiere Monti is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Quartiere Monti to The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C
back through Quartiere Monti → The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.