Why this ride
A 431 km round trip from Fognano - roughly 8 h 26 in the saddle. The stops in between: Gessi Bolognesi, Cathedral, Bassa collina reggiana and Sabbioneta. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro and Sabbioneta
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 431 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 26
- 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
Gessi Bolognesi → Cathedral
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 59 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 61 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
Driving through the hills of Romagna, south of Faenza, you notice a long, pale ridge cutting across the valleys like a wall. This is the Vena del Gesso Romagnola, a band of gypsum rock about twenty-five kilometres long, and Monte Mauro is its highest point, rising above the villages of Riolo Terme, Brisighella and Fognano. The ridge is now a regional park and part of the UNESCO site for the evaporitic karst of the northern Apennines.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro is where the day begins. Next is Gessi Bolognesi.
2. Gessi Bolognesi
Ride south out of Bologna and within ten minutes the city's suburbs give way to something surprising: a range of low hills made of gypsum, a soft, crystalline rock that dissolves in water and forms caves, sinkholes and strange, shiny outcrops. These are the Gessi Bolognesi, a protected regional park between the Savena and Idice valleys, and in 2023 they became part of the UNESCO site for the evaporitic karst and caves of the northern Apennines.
Read the complete Gessi Bolognesi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gessi Bolognesi comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cathedral.
3. Cathedral
Modena's cathedral is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture in Europe, and the inscription on its facade still names its makers with pride: the architect Lanfranco and the sculptor Wiligelmo. Work began in 1099 to house the relics of Saint Geminianus, the city's patron, and the result is a building of pale stone, with arcaded galleries, lions supporting the columns of the portal, and carved panels telling the story of Genesis with an expressive power that still surprises. The Ghirlandina, the cathedral's bell tower, leans slightly and rises high above the rooftops, and together with the Piazza Grande they form a UNESCO site.
Read the complete Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 123 km into the recorded legs you reach Cathedral. Next is Bassa collina reggiana.
4. Bassa collina reggiana
The low hills south of Reggio Emilia, where the Po plain starts to ripple up toward the Apennines, hide a strange geology: outcrops of gypsum, the glittering crystalline rock left behind when ancient seas evaporated millions of years ago. Water dissolves gypsum easily, and over time it has carved caves, sinkholes and blind valleys into these hills. The Bassa Collina Reggiana, the low Reggio hill country, is part of the UNESCO site Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines, listed in 2023, and around Borzano, Albinea and Vezzano sul Crostolo you can see the white and grey gypsum cliffs poking through the woods and vineyards.
Read the complete Bassa collina reggiana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bassa collina reggiana, about halfway. Next is Sabbioneta.
5. Sabbioneta
Sabbioneta is a Renaissance experiment: a whole town built from scratch in the second half of the sixteenth century by Vespasiano Gonzaga, a soldier, scholar and minor prince of the great Mantuan family, who wanted a capital laid out according to the ideals of the age. He got it. Inside its star-shaped walls the streets run in a regular grid, and in a few hundred metres you pass a ducal palace, a long gallery built to show off his collection of ancient sculpture, a summer palace, and one of the earliest purpose-built theatres in Europe, the Teatro all'Antica, designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi. Sabbioneta and Mantua were listed together by UNESCO in 2008 as two contrasting visions of the Renaissance city.
Read the complete Sabbioneta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sabbioneta sits at 202 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bassa collina reggiana.
6. back through Bassa collina reggiana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bassa collina reggiana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Bassa collina reggiana comes up about 277 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cathedral.
7. back through Cathedral
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 314 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cathedral. Next is back through Gessi Bolognesi.
8. back through Gessi Bolognesi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gessi Bolognesi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gessi Bolognesi, late in the day. Next is Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro, 50 km on.
9. Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro 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 431 km.
Leg by leg
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro to Gessi Bolognesi
Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro → Gessi Bolognesi is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gessi Bolognesi to Cathedral
Gessi Bolognesi → Cathedral is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathedral to Bassa collina reggiana
Cathedral → Bassa collina reggiana is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bassa collina reggiana to Sabbioneta
Bassa collina reggiana → Sabbioneta is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sabbioneta to back through Bassa collina reggiana
Sabbioneta → back through Bassa collina reggiana is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bassa collina reggiana to back through Cathedral
back through Bassa collina reggiana → back through Cathedral is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cathedral to back through Gessi Bolognesi
back through Cathedral → back through Gessi Bolognesi is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gessi Bolognesi to Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro
back through Gessi Bolognesi → Vena del Gesso Romagnola - M.te Mauro is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.