The city walls of Ronda are a series of well-preserved medieval fortifications that once protected the town, blending Moorish and later Christian architecture with dramatic views over the surrounding landscape |
|
Ronda's extensive walls, murallas, were begun by its Moorish rulers in the 13th century, renovated in the 16th by the Christians the earlier walls were built to keep out, and parts are still being rebuilt in the 21st century. The city walls of Ronda are a series of well-preserved medieval fortifications that once protected the town, blending Moorish and later Christian architecture with dramatic views over the surrounding landscape.
Originally, this feat of medieval engineering wrapped the entire city, and must have made it one of the most securely defended settlements of its time. Even today, with the outer walls fallen (especially to the south, near the Arab baths), only two paths, two gates and one bridge offer routes out of the fortress city.
The southerly battlements are large enough to host outdoor summer concerts, and the most impressive section, the westerly puerta del Almocábar, was only reconstructed in its original form in the late 20th century. The Hispanicised name is taken from the Arabic al-Maqabir, cemetery, the function originally served by what today is a leafy square. (It also names one of Ronda's best restaurants, which with its neighbour the Casa Maria makes the rest of Ronda very jealous of this square.)
