One of the most beautiful stops during my road trip throughout Andalucía was Ronda. No big motorway leads there. It is necessary to take streets winding through the huge mountains. But the time to travel there is invested very well: Ronda lies on the back of two lofty plains and you can stand directly at the chasm and enjoy views on the landscape surrounding the city.
Most impressive sight in Ronda is the Puente nuevo – a very high stone bridge connecting the two plateaus. It is 120 m high and was finished in 1802. It is said that the architect José Martín de Aldehuela killed himself by jumping from the bridge as it was finished because he was sure that could never ever built such a wonderful construction again.
The building also has its dark side: the room on top of the central arc has been used as a prison in the Spanish civil war and both sides – republicans and nationalists – have thrown prisoners into the canyon. Today the room serves as a museum giving inside about the bridge.
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