Random & Haphazard Beauty in Ronda
The human heart likes a little disorder in its geometry.
- Louis de Bernieres, 1954
Ronda, Spain
This picture was taken on the grounds of the inn I stayed in while visiting the magnificent mountaintop town of Ronda, in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. It was the morning of our departure after an all-too-brief stay. We had enjoyed breakfast on the patio and I prowled around for anything I might have missed, any small still life composition that had escaped my lens. There is something about holding a camera that encourages an entitled sense of curiosity and instills an impression of beauty in the ordinary.
Ronda itself is a sprawling canvas and anything but ordinary. It perches on a 2,400-foot plateau, and straddles the deep Tajo gorge, through which rushes the Rio Guadalevin. The town is a cluster of white-washed buildings, blanketing the top of practically vertical escarpments, like a shawl around the shoulders of an old grand dame. At her feet, a lush green carpet stretches out to the peaks encircling her. The name Ronda means “surrounded by mountains”–to the east and west of the town are the Sierra de las Nieves, or “mountains of the snows.”
Ronda is one of the oldest cities in Spain and its history is as colorful as its setting, and cast of historic characters as dramatic as its geography. A Muslim enclave from 711 A.D. until conquered by Christians in 1485, among its citizenry over the ages was the 14th century Ibn Abbad al-Rundi. He honed his intellect while training to be a lawyer before instead following his heart to devote his life to Sufism. He is known for seeking to make the mystical vision of the Sufi masters accessible to a broader and more popular audience.
One of Ronda’s lasting monuments to Arab ingenuity is located just outside the old city walls, the Arab Baths or Baños Arabes, originally built in the 12th or 13th centuries, and considered the best preserved Moorish baths in Spain. The Moors of Spain were also Muslim; a mosque was located next to the baths, allowing the faithful to cleanse their bodies before entering the mosque to purify their souls.
Ronda is also the birthplace of Pedro Romero, the 18th century father of modern bullfighting, equally famous for killing 6,000 bulls in his career as for being the first to elevate his job to an art as well as a sport. Romero was a subject of another of Ronda’s sons, Francisco de la Goya, a keen observer of traditional Spanish culture and court painter to Spanish King Carlos IV. Plaza de toros de Ronda is one of the oldest bullfighting rings in Spain. It was built in 1784 in the Neoclassical style by the architect José Martin de Aldehuela, who also designed the Puente Nuevo.
The early 19th bandolero El Tempranillo, or “Early Bird,” earned his name for joining a gang of mountain outlaws when he was 13, after murdering a man during pilgrimage festivities. The Bandoleros are part of the Andalusian mountain mythology, both revered as Robin Hoods, and feared as heartless villains.
Ana la Gitana was Flamenco music’s darling of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, performing throughout Andalucia until her death. Ana was born into a poor gypsy family, rising to fame throughout Spain for her voice and guitar. Flamenco music is rooted in ancient Andalucian history, and influenced by Iberian, Arabic, Shepherdic, and Gitano musical styles. The structure of flamenco music is called “palo” and there are scores of different versions. The Rondeña, a variation of the Fandango, is believed to originate in Ronda, as well as the Polo, and the Caña.
Tucked away in a corner of the inn’s property, I came across this pile of pottery amid pink carnations, a little patch of random and haphazard beauty. The weave of the rattan fencing splayed speckles of shadows and light across the tableau. This scene struck me as a fitting conclusion to our visit to Ronda, a place of painters and pirates, where artistic urges, rebellious attitudes, savage instincts, and soulful aspirations co-exist. As in geometry, in which a line extends forever and intersects with others at common points, we connected with the many faces of a human lineage atop the rocky right angles of Ronda.
http://www.andalucia.com/ronda/home.htm
http://www.turismoderonda.es/geografiahistoria/eng/historia.htm
http://www.rusticblue.com/locations_ronda_mountains_ronda.htm