Crinali della Valdaso Cycle Route - Stage 04 - from Rotella to Marina di Altidona

Descrizione

We leave Rotella for the last stretch that separates us from the return to the beaches of the Adriatic.

The wake-up call is given to us shortly after our departure by a somewhat challenging first climb that then turns into a falsopiano that accompanies us to Montedinove, the first village of the day. The small town, perched on a hilltop, is rich in history and elegant architecture, culminating in the recently renovated piazza-belvedere. It is home to a Sistine museum and the Picene Tombs Museum.

Less than three kilometres and we are in Montalto delle Marche, one of the main centres of Valdaso with an extremely interesting and articulated historical centre and with interesting museums to visit, such as the Bishop's Sistine Museum, the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Prisons and others.

Montalto is also the highest point of today's route, at 530 m above sea level; from here, the road begins to descend steeply, until arriving, after about 10 km, at Carassai, another fortified village with some very valuable views.

We still descend for about five kilometres before tackling the last real climb of the day, which will take us up 130 metres in altitude to reach Montefiore all'Aso, listed among the most beautiful villages in Italy, with a well-preserved historic centre, inside which stands the Museum Centre of San Francesco. The interior of the church, now deconsecrated, is embellished with frescoes and works of art, while the rooms of the former convent house a precious polyptych by Carlo Crivelli, recently restored.

We continue our descent, with the sea now in front of us, to reach the last town in our necklace of ‘pearls’, Campofilone.

The town is known throughout the world for being the centre of production of the well-known durum wheat semolina pasta, made in a semi-artisanal manner, but the town certainly deserves a tour of its historic centre, up to its peak, the so-called abbey garden, today a simple meadow enclosed within ancient walls and with a beautiful view of the valley and the mountains now distant and in the background.

Our journey is almost at an end. Just a few more kilometres downhill and we are in Pedaso, which we will cross by taking the Adriatic cycle path along the coast, ending on the cycle/pedestrian bridge where we started, while below us flows the river Aso, which has also reached its destination.