Gaucín (Serranía Ronda)

Gaucin is the first village of the Serranía de Ronda which you will come across on the road from Gibraltar Field to Ronda. It has all the charms of the white villages which are found on the slopes of the mountains which lead to the River Genal. Gaucin has some of the most varied scenery of the province, including corn oaks, holm oaks and pine forests, as well as formations of mixed shrubbery with chestnuts and wild olive trees in addition to its market gardens and rural houses combined with the varied vegatation of its riverbanks.

The village is located on the riverbed of the Sierra del Hacho, beneath El Águila Castle, which had great strategic value as it, along with Gibraltar, was the main defence against invasion from the South. It was constructed by the Romans, but it was the Arabs who left most traces behind in the area. Its streets of Moorish design are in perfect alignment with the hill on which they lie and the graceful white homes which are adorned with grilled windows and balconies, these being the work of expert atrisans in the fields of iron forgery.

Gaucin is one of the prettiest villages of the Serranía de Ronda area, with streets which overcame orographic problems by creating staircases on the steep slopes; with eternally white houses which have the plastic expression of popular Moorish architecture, and also surroundings whic attracted artists and writers in the 19th Century.

At the highest point of the urban centre the ruins of Aguila Castle (or of Gaucín) can be found, which has been rebuilt on several occasions, the most recent occasion being 1808 with the War of Independence as its theme, which was reinforced in 1842 during the Regency of General Espartero. Its altitude of 150 metres elevation in the east and north, and a little less in the south and west, form the two somewhat burdensome entrances to the castle. Within the precincts there are three dungeons and a mine or underground escape tunnel, these having been built by the Arabs. Until the last century it was an armed garrison. Together with the fortress in the eastern part of the city, this was the Hermitage of Santo Niño which at one time was a military barracks with one of the towers of the castle as an ammunition dump.

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HOTELS IN GAUCIN, Province of Málaga

In the urban centre is the Parish Church of San Sebastián, built at the start of the 16th Century and subsequently restored conferring a Renaissance aire on it as a result of its main façade and belltower. The convent of the Carmelites was previously the Hermitage of the Vera Cruz and dates from 1704.

Amongst the civilian works it is necessary to mention the Fountain of Seis Caños, which dates from the 18th century, and additionally also many stately homes dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, with upright gates and coats of arms of the nobility crafted from stone in addition to many examples of handmade iron grilled windows and balconies.

The culinary offerings here are similar to those of other villages in the region of Ronda. You can taste many pork products, elaborate sweet products such as alfajores (sweet cookies), cakes, almond doughnuts and suspiros (a type of meringue.) As far as festivals are concerned, the main one is the Toro de Cuerda celebrated on Easter Sunday by releasing an enraged and bound bull on a large thick rope to run around the streets of the village.