Andalusia Day Ten - Ronda Fest

Tuesday 26 October

Today we explored the 'old Ronda', the 15th century part south of the gorge.  We walked from the new, north side, to the south via one of the original bridges, Puente Romano, and could see across to the other old one, Puneto Viejo which is the oldest (built in 1616) and smallest of the 3 bridges in Ronda.  

We first visited the Casa del Rey de Moro, a fantastic house set overlooking the gorge with amazing views, and access to the Masrid era Water Mine, one of the best preserved water mines in Spain.  

Built in the 14th Century, the water mine has over 120 steps down to the river and, when Christians were ousted by the Muslim conquerers, they had to carry the water up the steps to the town.  

It was amazing to be down at the river's edge, and the reflections were beautiful.  

Then we visited the Baños Arabes, Ronda's Arab Baths.  They were built in the Moorish style, similar to Roman Baths, except that steam was use to sweat out pollutants from the body, rather than soaking in hot water as the Romans would.  

The baths were fed by water from the Guadalevín and there was a clever design drawing it up from the river and channelling it down to the baths.  

Next we visited the Palacio de Mondragón (Mondragon Palace), the Municipal Museum of Ronda and home to the history of Ronda from the stone age to present time.  It hosts some beautiful Moorish architecture.  

Then we then walked down the the Arabic walls and city gates in the south, back past the Plaza Duquesca de Parcent, via the Jardines de Cuenca and back to the Puerto Nuevo - stopping for various coffees and tapas on the way.