Ronda
Encyclopedia
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
province of Málaga. It is located about 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) West from the city of Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, within the autonomous community
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
of Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
. Its population is approximately 35,000 inhabitants.
History
Around the city are remains of prehistoric settlements dating to the Neolithic Age, including the rock paintings of Cueva de la Pileta. Ronda was however first settled by the early CeltCelt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
s, who, in the 6th century BC, called it Arunda. Later Phoenician settlers established themselves nearby to found Acinipo
Acinipo
Acinipo was a city created for retired soldiers from the Roman legions more than 2,000 years ago, about 20 kilometers from Ronda, near Seville, southern Spain. The Acinipo ruins include a Roman theater still in use today...
, known locally as Ronda la Vieja, Arunda or Old Ronda. The current Ronda is however of Roman origins, having been founded as a fortified post in the Second Punic War
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
, by Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
. Ronda received the title of city at the time of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
.
In the 5th century AD Ronda was conquered by the Suebi
Suebi
The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c...
, led by Rechila
Rechila
Rechila was the Suevic King of Galicia from 438 until his death. There are few primary sources for his life, but Hydatius was a contemporary Christian chronicler in Galicia....
, being reconquered in the following century by the Eastern Roman Empire, under whose rule Acinipo was abandoned. Later the Visigoth king Leovigild captured the city. Ronda was part of the Visigoth reign until 713, when it fell to the Arabs, who named it Izn-Rand Onda ("city of the castle") and made it the capital of the Takurunna province.
It was the hometown of the polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
Abbas Ibn Firnas
Abbas Ibn Firnas
Abbas Ibn Firnas , also known as Abbas Qasim Ibn Firnas and عباس بن فرناس , was a Muslim Andalusian polymath: an inventor, engineer, aviator, physician, Arabic poet, and Andalusian musician. Of Berber descent, he was born in Izn-Rand Onda, Al-Andalus , and lived in the Emirate of Córdoba...
(810–887), an an inventor, engineer, aviator, physician, Arabic poet
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed, or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter...
, and Andalusian musician
Andalusian classical music
Andalusian classical music is a style of Moorish music found across North Africa in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. It originates out of the music of Al-Andalus between the 9th and 15th centuries....
.
After the disintegration of the caliphate of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and part of North Africa, from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous...
, Ronda became the capital of a small kingdom ruled by the Berber Banu Ifran
Banu Ifran
The Ifranids, also called Banu Ifran, Ifran, or the children of the Afri , were a Berber tribe prominent in the history of pre-Islamic and early Islamic North Africa....
, the taifa of Ronda
Taifa of Ronda
The Taifa of Ronda was a medieval taifa kingdom that existed in Moorish al-Andalus from 1039 to 1065, when it was conquered by the taifa of Seville...
. During this period Ronda received most of its Islamic architectural heritage. In 1065 Ronda was conquered by the taifa of Seville
Taifa of Seville
The Taifa of Seville was a short lived medieval kingdom, in what is now southern Spain and Portugal. It originated in 1023 and lasted until 1091, and was under the rule of the Arab Abbadid family.-History:...
led by Abbad II al-Mu'tadid
Abbad II al-Mu'tadid
Abbad II al-Mu'tadid was second ruler of Seville in Al-Andalus, a member of the Abbadid dynasty....
. Both the poet Salih ben Sharif al-Rundi
Salih ben Sharif al-Rundi
Abu Muhammad Salih b. Abi Sharif al-Rundi was a poet from al-Andalus. He was born in Sevilla in 1204 and fled that town in 1248 and lived in Ceuta until his death in 1285. al-Rundi wrote a handbook on poetry...
(1204–1285) and the Sufi scholar Ibn Abbad al-Rundi
Ibn Abbad al-Rundi
Ibn Abbad al-Rundi was one of the leading Sufi theologians of his time who was born in Ronda. Attracted to Morocco by the famous madrasahs, Ibn Abbad emigrated there at an early age...
(1333–1390) were born in Ronda.
The Islamic domination of Ronda ended in 1485, when it was conquered by the Marquis of Cádiz after a brief siege. Subsequently, mostly of the city's old edifices were renewed or adapted to Christian roles, while numerous others were built in newly-created quarters such as the Mercadillo and the San Francisco ones. The Real Maestranza de Caballería de Ronda was founded in the town in 1572, with military finalities.
The Spanish Inquisitions affected the Muslims living in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
greatly. Shortly after 1492, when the last outpost of Muslim presence in the Iberian
Iberian
Iberian refers to Iberia, which has two basic meanings, the disused, of Caucasian Iberia , and the modern sense of someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Portugal and Spain...
peninsula, Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, was conquered, the Spanish decreed that all Muslims and Jews must either vacate the peninsula without their belongings or convert to Christianity. Many people overtly converted to keep their possessions, while secretly practiced their religion. Muslims who converted only overtly were called Moriscos. Moriscos were required to wear upon their caps and turbans a blue crescent, which brought upon them taunts and violence of a fanatical population. Traveling without a permit meant a death sentence. This systematic suppression forced the Muslims to seek refuge in mountainous regions of southern Andalucian cities such as Ronda.
In May 25, 1566 Philip II decreed that the use of the Arabic language (written or spoken) to be illegal, doors to home to remain open on Fridays to verify that no Muslim Friday prayers are conducted, and heavy taxation on Moriscos trades. This led to several rebellions, one being that of Ronda under the leadership of Al-Fihrey. After a ferocious battle, Al-Fihrey's insurgent army was able to defeat the Spanish army sent to suppress them under the leadership of Alfonso de Aguilar. So violent the retribution was, that no Spanish soldier captured was spared his life, including Alfonso himself. This prompted Phillip II to order the mass slaughter of all Moriscos in Ronda. Those few who survived were sold into slavery.
In the early 19th century, the Napoleonic invasion
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and the subsequent Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
caused much suffering in Ronda, whose inhabitants reduced from 15,600 to 5,000 in three years. Ronda's area became the base first of guerrilla warriors, then of numerous bandits, whose deeds inspired artists such as Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
, Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
and Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Doré was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.-Biography:...
. In the 19th century the economy of Ronda was mainly rural. In 1918 the city was the seat of the Assembly of Ronda
Assembly of Ronda
The Assembly of Ronda or Assembly of the Andalusian Provinces in Ronda was a gathering of Andalusian nationalists convoked by the Centros Andaluces in Ronda, Province of Málaga in January 1918...
, in which the Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
n flag, coat of arms and anthem were designed.
Ronda's Romero family--from the grandfather, Francisco, who was born in 1698, through his son Juan, to Juan's famous son, Pedro, who died in 1839--played a principal role in the development of modern Spanish bullfighting. With the family responsible for such innovations as the use of the cape, or muleta, and a sword especially designed for the kill, Pedro in particular transformed bullfighting into "an art and a skill in its own right, and not simply ... a clownishly macho preamble to the bull's slaughter."
Ronda was heavily affected by the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, after which much of the population emigrated elsewhere. The famous scene in Chapter 10 of Hemingway
Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was an American writer and journalist.Hemingway may also refer to:*Hemingway , a surname and list of people with that name*Hemingway , a Marvel Comics character*Hemingway, South Carolina...
's "For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to a republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As an expert in the use of explosives, he is assigned to blow up a...
", describing the 1936 execution of Fascist sympathisers in a (fictional) village who are thrown off a cliff, is considered to be modeled on actual events at the time in Ronda.
Geography
Ronda is situated in a very mountainous area about 750 m above mean sea levelAbove mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
. The Guadalevín River runs through the city, dividing it in two and carving out the steep, 100 plus meters deep El Tajo canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
upon which the city perches. The Spanish Fir
Spanish Fir
Abies pinsapo is a species of fir native to southern Spain and northern Morocco. Related to other species of mediterranean firs, is considered the Andalusian National Tree, native of the Andalusian mountains...
(Abies
Fir
Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...
pinsapo) is endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
to the mountains surrounding Ronda.
Main sights
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 NuevoPuente Nuevo
The Puente Nuevo is the newest and largest of three bridges that span the -deep chasm that carries the Guadalevín River and divides the city of Ronda, in southern Spain. The architect was José Martin de Aldehuela, who died in Málaga in 1802...
("New Bridge"), span the 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 bridges, towering 120 metres (393.7 ft) above the canyon floor, and all three serve as some of the city's most impressive features.
The ‘Corrida Goyesca’ is a unique and historical bullfight that takes place once a year in Ronda in the Plaza de toros de Ronda
Plaza de toros de Ronda
The Plaza de Toros in Ronda, Málaga is one of the oldest operational bullrings in Spain. The arena has a diameter of , surrounded by a passage formed by two rings of stone. There are two layers of seating, each with five raised rows and 136 pillars that make up 68 arches...
, the oldest bullfighting
Bullfighting
Bullfighting is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Latin American countries , in which one or more bulls are baited in a bullring for sport and entertainment...
ring in Spain. It was built in 1784 in the Neoclassical style
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
by the architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
José Martin de Aldehuela, who also designed the Puente Nuevo.
The partially intact Baños árabes ("Arab baths") are found below the city and date back to the 13th and 14th centuries.
The former town hall, which sits next to the Puente Nuevo, is the site of a parador
Parador
A parador , in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, is a kind of luxury hotel, usually located in a historic building such as a monastery or castle. Parar means to stop, halt or stay.- Paradores de Turismo de España :...
, and has a view of the Tajo canyon.
Cultural influence
American artists Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
and Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
spent many summers in Ronda as part-time residents of Ronda's old town quarter called La Ciudad. Both wrote about Ronda's beauty and famous bull-fighting traditions. Their collective accounts have contributed to Ronda's popularity over time.
In the first decades of the 20th century the famous German poet Rainer Maria Rilke spent extended periods in Ronda. There he kept a permanent room at the Hotel Reina Victoria (built in 1906) where his room remains to this day as he left it, a mini-museum of Rilkeana. According to the hotel's publicity, Rilke wrote (though probably not in Spanish) "He buscado por todas partes la ciudad soñada, y al fin la he encontrado en Ronda" and "No hay nada más inesperado en España que esta ciudad salvaje y montañera" ("I have sought everywhere the city of my dreams, and I have finally found it in Ronda" and "There is nothing that is more startling in Spain than this wild and mountainous city.")
Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to a republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As an expert in the use of explosives, he is assigned to blow up a...
describes the murder of Nationalist sympathizers early in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. The Republicans murder the Nationalists by throwing them from cliffs in an Andalusian village, and Hemingway allegedly based the account on killings that took place in Ronda at the cliffs of El Tajo. Ernest Hemingway wrote many of his novels here as well, such as Fiesta.
Orson Welles said he was inspired by his frequent trips to Spain and Ronda (e.g. Welles' unfinished film about Don Quixote). After Welles died in 1985, his ashes were buried in a well, located on the rural property of his friend, the retired bullfighter Antonio Ordoñez.
English writer George Eliot
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
's book Daniel Deronda
Daniel Deronda
Daniel Deronda is a novel by George Eliot, first published in 1876. It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the contemporary Victorian society of her day...
("Daniel of Ronda") tells the story of Spanish Jew brought up as an Englishman. There have been some speculation that Eliot's ancestors may have lived in Ronda prior to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.
In the fashion world Italian designer Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with an annual turnover of $1.6 billion and a...
was pleased to announce that he specially designed the bullfighting costume, called ‘Goyesco’ for famed bullfighter and testimonial Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez
Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez
Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez, is a Spanish matador.-Early years:Rivera is the son of Francisco Rivera 'Paquirri' and Carmen Ordóñez along with his elder brother, the matador Francisco Rivera Ordóñez...
, on the occasion of the ‘Corrida Goyesca’, that took place on September 6, 2009 in Ronda. Cayetano’s suit of lights was in the Goyaesque style, comprises a jacket, trousers and cloack in techno satin in a shade of Armani greige. The three pieces are embroidered with sequins, small glitter stones and thread, all matching the colour of the background fabric.
Transportation
Ronda is accessible via highways and by rail from AlgecirasAlgeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...
and from Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
.
The single track railway between Ronda and Algeciras was built between 1890 and 1892 by the Gibraltar Railway Company. It enabled the British military officers to escape the summer heat of Gibraltar. The railway was built by James Morrison, an engineer, in partnership with, Sir Alexander Henderson, a financier. The station at Ronda was opened in 1892.
Sister cities
CuencaCuenca, Spain
-History:When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria...
, Spain Chefchaouen
Chefchaouen
Chefchaouen or Chaouen is a city in northwest Morocco. It is the chief town of the province of the same name, and is noted for its buildings in shades of blue....
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
Castiglion Fiorentino
Castiglion Fiorentino
Castiglion Fiorentino is a small, walled city in eastern Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Arezzo, between the cities of Arezzo and Cortona. It is well known for its annual festivals and Etruscan archeological site.-Geography:...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Ontinyent, Spain