The white villages Malaga Itinerary
Total length of the trip: 115km via Castelar and Jimena de la
Frontera. 100km between Ronda and Arcos de la Frontera.
Point of Departure: San Pedro de Alcantara.
There is a well-paved mountain road between the coast and Ronda,
which asses through the whole mountain range from south to north
with lovely scenery on either side and practically no settlements.
Ronda (49km from San Pedro de Alcantara) lies on top of a rocky
projection with vertical walls and is one of the most interesting
towns in Andalusia. It is divided by a deep chasm which reaches
a depth of 100m at some points. El Puente Nuevo (the New Bridge),
built in the 18C connects both parts and at the same time is the
landmark of the town.
Upon arrival, on one side the traveller finds the 16C convent
of San Francisco with an interesting Gothic Isabelline portal.
Soon afterwards there are the Gates of El Almocabar - of Muslim
times - and of Carlos V, which give access to the most representative
area of Ronda. The Church of El Espiritu Santo, founded at the
request of the Catholic Monarchs, stands next to the wall.
The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria should, without a doubt,
be the first place to be visited. It is an important Renaissance
building which still preserved inside an arch of the vanished
mosque. The interior is a combination of late Gothic and Baroque.
Other sights of this section of the old part of Ronda include
El Cuartel las Milicias (today's Town Hall), the convent of the
Clares, La Caridad church and Mondragon Palace.
Also in the vicinity of the collegiate church, there are La Casa
del Gigante (Giants House; from Muslim times) and the Church of
La Virgen de la Paz, dating from the 16C and 17c. On the way to
El Puente Nuevo, there is the minaret of San Sebastian, the only
vestige of the vanished mosque. On the right, the visit should
include the Palaces of El Rey Moro and of Salvatierra, the Arab
baths and the Arch of Felipe. Despite its name, the Palace of
El Rey Moro is an entirely western building dating from the 18c.
It has a lovely façade typical of Ronda. Salvatierra, on the other
hand, has a curious Renaissance portal.
The well-preserved Arab baths are found in the lowest part of
town. Close by there is the 17C Puente Viejo (Old Bridge), which
leads to the most recent area of Ronda. It is suggested, however,
to return to El Puente Nuevo: the view over the precipice of the
River Guadalavir is absolutely breathtaking there.
Very near España Square, today's town centre, there is the bullring,
a lovely 18C construction which replaced that of Felipe II, dating
from the 16C. In this bullring Pedro Romero, the father of fighting
bulls on foot, created a school, and every year it is the scene
of a traditional bullfight recreating Goyas times. In the area
the traveller will find signposts pointing the way to the Victoria
Hotel, where the room is preserved in which Rainer Maria Rilke
lived while he was in Ronda.
The ruins of Acinipo lie at a distance of 19km from Ronda. Part
of an ancient theatre is preserved of this Roman settlement.
With Ronda as the starting point the traveller has two options
to get to know the white villages. The road descending towards
the bay of Algeciras passes through a good part of the mountain
range and then enters the Province of Cadiz. There are two lovely
villages to be visited: Jimena and Castellar de la Frontera. The
other option takes the traveller to Arcos de la Frontera after
passing through really magnificent mountain scenery and through
Grazalema and Ubrique.