In the town centre, in a privileged position next to Ronda’s famous Puente Nuevo bridge, built in 1761, the Parador of Ronda occupies the former Town Hall.
The town of Ronda is built along the edge of an impressive gorge so you have spectacular views in all directions.
Puenta Nuevo, the New Bridge, connects the old city with the newer parts of Ronda and its suburbs. Taking some 42 years to complete, the bridge dates to 1751. The bridge dramatically transverses the El Tajo canyon.
The term "nuevo" is a bit of a misnomer, as the building of this bridge commenced in 1751 and took until 1793 to complete. The Puente Nuevo is the tallest of the three bridges, towering 120 metres (390 ft) above the canyon floor, and all three serve as some of the city's most impressive features.
Next morning we took a walking tour of the town.
As always the local church is very impressive.
The Palacio de Mondragón dates to the days of the Moors and may have been the home of the Moorish King Abb el Malik. After Ronda's fall to the Catholic Monarchs the Palace for a brief period, became a residence of King Fernando and Queen Isabella. The interior of this building is impressive. Unfortunately no pictures we allowed so check the web reference for more.
After the tour Steve and I hiked into the gorge and around the base of the town.
You get a nice view of the bridge and a waterfall in the gorge about halfway down to the botom.
The old Arab Gate dates from the 1oth century.
Three bridges, Puente Romano ("Roman Bridge", also known as the Puente San Miguel), Puente Viejo ("Old Bridge", also known as the Puente Árabe or "Arab Bridge") and Puente Nuevo ("New Bridge"), span the canyon.
This is the Arab Bridge. We walked down to the Roamn Bridge but there was no place to get a picture.
While steve and I were walking in the gorge, Peggi and Nancy toured the Ronda Bull ring.
The guides said bull fightng was dying out in Spain but still had a following especially in a traditional town like Ronda.
The first historical documents known about the Alhambra date from the 9th century and they refer to Sawwar ben Hamdun who, in the year 889, had to seek refuge in the Alcazaba, a fortress, and had to repair it due to the civil fights that were destroying the Caliphate of Cordoba, to which Granada then belonged.
Yusuf I (1333-1353) and Mohammed V (1353-1391) are responsible for most of the constructions of the Alhambra that we can still admire today.
The palace is filled with many wonderful and beautiful courtyards like the one above the the one to the left.
More courtyards and gardens in the Alhambra.
The main fortress connects to the summer palace thorugh extenisve gardens.
