Why this ride
A 267 km round trip from Alange - roughly 4 h 25 in the saddle. The stops in between: The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer, Cornalvo Dam, The Roman Circus and Old Town of Cáceres. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Thermal Baths at Alange and Old Town of Cáceres
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 267 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 25
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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
For 22 km this is Ruta de la Plata, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 22 km
- Named road
- Ruta de la Plata
The Roman Circus → Old Town of Cáceres
83 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 83 km
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 37 km in. 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
73 km in you reach Cornalvo Dam. Next is The Roman Circus.
4. The Roman Circus
Mérida was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Emerita, a city for veterans of the Cantabrian Wars, and it grew into the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. Few places in Spain carry their Roman past so openly. The circus lies on the eastern side of town, a long, flat oval of grass more than four hundred metres from end to end, with the low remains of the central barrier and the seating banks around it. It once held tens of thousands of spectators for chariot races, and though the stands are mostly gone, you can still walk the track and picture the teams thundering around the turning posts.
Read the complete The Roman Circus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Roman Circus, about halfway. Next is Old Town of Cáceres.
5. Old Town of Cáceres
Cáceres has an old town so complete that film crews treat it as a ready-made set, and walking its streets at dusk, when the stone glows amber and the crowds have gone, you can see why. Inside the walls, built largely by the Almohads in the twelfth century, are dozens of fortified mansions, towers, churches and palaces, many built by noble families who made their fortunes in the conquest of the Americas. The towers once had battlements, but Queen Isabella ordered most of them cut down to curb the nobles' power. UNESCO listed the old town in 1986.
Read the complete Old Town of Cáceres write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Old Town of Cáceres sits at 146 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Roman Circus.
6. back through The Roman Circus
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Roman Circus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Roman Circus comes up 183 km in. Next is back through Cornalvo Dam.
7. back through Cornalvo Dam
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
219 km in you reach back through Cornalvo Dam. Next is back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer.
8. 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.
9. 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
The route ends here after 267 km.
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 22 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 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cornalvo Dam to The Roman Circus
Cornalvo Dam → The Roman Circus is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Roman Circus to Old Town of Cáceres
The Roman Circus → Old Town of Cáceres is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Old Town of Cáceres to back through The Roman Circus
Old Town of Cáceres → back through The Roman Circus is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The Roman Circus to back through Cornalvo Dam
back through The Roman Circus → back through Cornalvo Dam is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cornalvo Dam to back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer
back through Cornalvo Dam → back through The Mithraeum House - The Columbaria Funer is 21 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 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.