Ronda - City walls - Baños Arabes - Plaza de la Oscuridad

This walk will take you to five sites that bring Ronda’s past to life: the Iglesia de Espiritu Santo, the Almocabar Gate, the city walls, the Arab Baths, and the Plaza de la Oscuridad. Reminders of Ronda’s long history are everywhere, but they are especially visible in the old part of the city, just inside the Almocabar Gate. This area was first Phoenician, then Roman, then Visigoth, and from 713 until 1485, Arabic. This walk starts at the fortress church of Iglesia Espiritu Santo where you can see a scale model of Ronda during medieval times and where you can also climb up a spiral staircase in a circular tower past a flying buttress to arrive at the bell chamber. Next, stroll along the top of the wall and get marvelous views from the towers at the Almocabar Gate, the entrance to the city during medieval times. The path continues below restored parts of the old city walls, passes the Arab Baths, and ends at the Plaza de la Oscuridad where a Mozarab hermitage was carved into the rocks in what is now the middle of the city. Religious use of the cave itself possibly dates back to the Visigothic Era.

Worth noting
If you are climbing to the bell tower, you might want to time your arrival so that you are at the top between the quarter hours. You are very close to the bells and the sound is quite loud! We arrived at 10: 36 and made sure we were out by 10:41.

Visits to the Ermita Rupestre de la Oscuridad are by arrangement only (see link below), but even without going inside, the pedestrian plaza is an interesting place to explore.

Arab Baths opening times:
Monday to Friday 10:00-18:00
Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays 10:00-15:00

Walk 6 of a long-distance walk through the Serranía de Ronda
From our journal:
If you want to get a mental picture of the city during this 700-year period when Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived here in harmony, read “The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain” by María Rosa Menocal. If you want to get a visual picture, go to the Iglesia de Espiritu Santo and look for the scale model carved from cork that shows a remarkably lifelike view of the city during those times. We stumbled upon this by chance this morning and it brought Rosa Menocal’s words to life. There’s a little tag beside the model noting that it took the artist 3,665 hours to carve it!

Possibilities for eating/sleeping
Apartamentos La Colegiata - Plaza de la Duquesa de Parcent, next to the Iglesia de Santa María la Mayor. The apartments are close to the starting point for numerous trails starting from Ronda. The owner is helpful with maps and questions.
La Tragata, C/ Nueva 4, near Puente Nuevo - for tacos
Casa María, Ruedo Alameda 27, Barrio San Francisco - for a meal after walking

Resources
Ermita Rupestre de la Oscuridad
http://www.ermitadelaoscuridad.com

Arab Walls and City Gates
https://www.rondatoday.com/rondas-arab-walls-and-city-gates/

Menocal, Rosa The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain

Previous walk: Asa de la Caldera - Los Molinos
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/ronda-asa-de-la-caldera-los-molinos-parque-periurbano-72047202

Next walk: Ronda - Under the Puente Nuevo
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/ronda-under-the-puente-nuevo-72324586

Link to journal
http://hiking.topicwise.com/doc/GenalValley