Why this ride
86 km from Alange to Alange, about 1 h 45 of riding. It goes by way of The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer, Cornalvo Dam and back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Thermal Baths at Alange and Cornalvo Dam
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 86 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 45
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Ruta de la Plata
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 26 km this is Ruta de la Plata, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 26 km
- Named road
- Ruta de la Plata
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Thermal Baths at Alange
The Romans, who were serious about hot water, found a warm spring at Alange in what is now Extremadura and built a bathing complex around it, and the place is still used today. The Roman baths, about twenty kilometres from Mérida, include a domed chamber with stone benches and a pool fed by the spring, and the water comes out pleasantly warm, a gift in a dry country. The baths date from the time when Mérida, then called Emerita Augusta, was one of the great cities of Roman Spain, and wealthy citizens would travel here to relax and be cured.
Read the complete Thermal Baths at Alange write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Thermal Baths at Alange is where the day begins. Next is The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer.
2. The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer
Mérida was founded in 25 BC as Emerita Augusta, a colony for veterans of Augustus's Cantabrian wars, and for centuries it was one of the greatest cities of Roman Spain, capital of the province of Lusitania. It still has a theatre and an amphitheatre side by side, a circus that could hold tens of thousands, a bridge over the Guadiana of about 790 metres that remains in use, and an aqueduct whose brick-and-granite piers rise above the road like the legs of a giant. The Casa del Mitreo and the Columbaria lie on the south-east edge of the old centre, near the bullring, and they show a more private side of Roman life.
Read the complete The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cornalvo Dam.
3. Cornalvo Dam
Nearly two thousand years after Roman engineers built it, the dam at Cornalvo still holds water. It lies in the rolling countryside north-east of Mérida, in Extremadura, and it supplied the Roman city of Augusta Emerita, capital of the province of Lusitania. The dam is an earthen embankment faced with stone, with a tower in the reservoir that controlled the outflow, and it is part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Cornalvo Dam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 44 km into the recorded legs you reach Cornalvo Dam. Next is back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer.
4. back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer, late in the day. Next is Thermal Baths at Alange.
5. Thermal Baths at Alange
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Thermal Baths at Alange write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Thermal Baths at Alange. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Thermal Baths at Alange to The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer
Thermal Baths at Alange → The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer to Cornalvo Dam
The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer → Cornalvo Dam is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cornalvo Dam to back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer
Cornalvo Dam → back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer to Thermal Baths at Alange
back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer → Thermal Baths at Alange is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.