Ronda

Jaw-dropping Ronda is one of those places you see on screensavers and “1000 places to see before you die” lists, but don’t actually think you’ll ever see with your own eyes. Well, dear readers…we did!

The town’s claim to fame is its ridiculously tall arched bridge, which spans the Guadalevín River and a nearly 400 ft chasm bisecting the town. Personally, I think the best way to appreciate it is this video with an EDM soundtrack. 😁

This “new bridge”, Puente Nuevo, was built in 1793. Which means it’s nowhere near as old as the town itself, which was first settled by Celts in the sixth century BC, who called it Arunda. Of course, there were people here much earlier than that; around the city are remains of prehistoric Neolithic settlements, including ancient cave rock paintings. The current town is of Roman origins, becoming an official city during the reign of Julius Caesar. In the fifth century AD, it was conquered by the Suebi, a group from what is now Germany and the Czech Republic; then by the Eastern Roman Empire; then the Visigoths; and in 713, by the Berbers, who named it Hisn Ar-Rundah (“Castle of Rundah”) and made it the capital of a small kingdom. It remained under Muslim rule until 1485, when it fell to the Marquis of Cádiz after a brief siege. More on that story later!

The original walled city was perched on a tall butte (the portion of town to the right of the bridge in most photos) that could only be easily accessed from the south, making it easy to defend. Its only vulnerability was access to water, which the Muslim rulers solved by building a hidden room in the river gorge containing a waterwheel, accessed by a hidden staircase, which Christian slaves were forced to climb with bladders of water until they collapsed from exhaustion. It was only when the town was betrayed and the location of this hidden “water mine” revealed to the Christian invaders that the town fell, just three days after the water mine was breached.

I think few visitors to Ronda know this story or the location of the water mine, but we were lucky enough to find it and climb its many dark, slippery steps down the river on our last night there. Griffin was a champ, going up and down all by himself. (He’d make a great Christian slave!) Amy was intrigued by the importance of water to this outpost.

Later, as the town expanded beyond that small butte, it became necessary to build some way to connect the town across the river, and the original Roman and Arab bridges deep in the gully just weren’t cutting it. Thus, the new bridge, which still astonishes and delights visitors today.

Ronda is also proud to call itself the origin of Spanish bullfighting (I’m not sure if it really originated here or not), and one of its most noticeable structures is a large bullring perched on the cliffs not far from the bridge. If your kids have ever watched Disney’s Ferdinand, you’ll quickly see that Ronda was the inspiration for the town that forms a backdrop for most of the film.

After leaving Archidona and Antequera, I had hoped that the small city of Ronda would be easier to navigate than those villages…but no such luck! Once again, we were weaving through tiny, steep cobblestoned lanes, and once again, I was getting screamed at in Spanish to back up where there seemed to be no place to do so! Our timing was not great; Semana Santa, the holy week preceding Easter, was just getting underway, and many of our routes were blocked in anticipation of the Sunday parades. We eventually parked in the only spot we could find, near the bottom of town, and were forced to make a heroic slog probably a good half mile up steep streets and staircases to our AirBnB, hauling all of our luggage with us. Amy was oblivious as she chatted away on a conference call.

But we were rewarded with the nicest accommodations we’ve yet experienced on this trip, a luxurious and very modern apartment overlooking one of the main squares, which had apparently been owned by a former mayor. In particular, we enjoyed the rooftop terrace and the first queen-size bed we’d found in Spain. 😀

We spent the next couple of days exploring the old town, which was small enough that it didn’t take too long, and hiking down the steep trails around it both for exceptional vantage points on the bridge and town and to stretch our legs. Ronda is one of the top tourist attractions in Spain, and it was especially crowded for Semana Santa, but it was amazing how quickly you could leave it and all the other tourists behind on the quiet trails below the town, where we found green pastures, abandoned houses, and a friendly white horse, who happily ate an apple from our hands. Later, we found a friendly white cat who followed us across a bridge and down a lane. (White villages, white horses, white cats…what is it with white in Spain?)

Griffin also spotted some mysterious fruit-laden trees along the trail. What were they? Almonds! Dozens of them. Who planted them, and when? We were surprised to find these same trees later along the trails at Zahara, making us wonder whether almonds might have been planted here intentionally…maybe by the Moors? Apparently so! I knew that before being domesticated, almonds were poisonous, famously containing a compound which breaks down into cyanide (which smells like bitter almonds). As Amy, Griffin, and I walked along the trail munching on some of these bitter, unripe almonds, I wondered aloud just how domesticated these were…and did I suddenly feel nauseous? 😉

After a couple hours of traversing the cliffs, trails, lanes, and southern wall of the city, we were relieved to discover a wonderful café with shaded tables spread across a wide plaza. We ordered sangrias and far too much food, including several vegan options, and did our best to luxuriate in a two-hour Spanish lunch break.

I’m not sure there’s much else to tell about Ronda; it’s best appreciated from the photos above, including a very special guest, Cathy Steinfeld (known as Nana to Griffin). It’s no Zahara, but it nonetheless exudes a charming but quaint grandeur, a small city with big tales to tell. Or maybe just big bridges to admire.

Next stop: Seville!