General information on Monda
Monda in Malaga, lies in the foothills of La Sierra de las Nieves, its municipal area forming part of the natural park of the same name, and retains the hallmark of its Arabic past in the shape of its steep, narrow streets lined with whitewashed houses standing in the shadow of the castle, built on the ruins of the former Arabic fortress and rehabilitated for tourist purposes, being a beautiful place were enjoy meals while having panoramic views to the Guadalhorce valley and Malaga bay.
The streets between the old white houses are narrow, curved and more designed for walking humans and donkeys than cars. The facades of the houses are typically overloaded with flowerpots full of blooming pelargonias hanging from the walls or the small balconies.
Monda is a lively and very real Spanish Pueblo. Life goes on as it has done for centuries.
You are never bored by watching the scenery. You have entire life cycles taking place in front of you. Small kids playing, ladies talking to each other at their front doors or from therir balconies, the local business men having for them important meetings, side by side with the good old boys of the pueblo having their daily dominos game over a "Fino".
You still see old farmers crossing the square with their loaded donkeys on their way to their olive and orange groves. Tractors are hard to find in Monda. The surrounding fields are cultivated as they have been for ever. Hard work for most and a bit easier for those who have a mule and a plow. Monda has 15 bars, restaurants and discos, but not any polluting industries. The oldest oil mill is in the centre of town. It is 200 years old. An amazing place to visit with the olive mill run by a steam machine heated by burning wood from old olive trees. The huge cone formed granite stone there pressing the olives for their juice is the same as what must have been used for generations. The farmers still come in from the countryside to sell their olives to the mill. They transport their olives in big canvas sacks, loaded on exhausted donkeys.
You can also enjoy different activities as horse riding or trekking at the Natural Park Sierra de las Nieves.
The countryside around Monda is stunning and you become amazed that you are only 15 minutes away from the beaches of Marbella. It is so peaceful and beautiful.
It is a tiny town with a population of less than two thousand, beyond Ojén along the C-337 road, crouching in a mountain valley at a height of 1200ft.
A few years ago it was a much-favoured drop-out spot for hippies without the inclination or energy to reach Marrakech or India. These have now largely disappeared and left Monda to its own devices, perhaps because the recently built road linking it to Marbella, and the rapidly developing suburbs have made it too accessible and bourgeois. Its dominant feature, which the approaching visitor can hardly miss, is the castle which stands above it. Architecturally the castle – actually a hotel - is an acquired taste which many may not wish to acquire, but inside it is sumptuously decorated in Moorish style and offers superb accommodation and cuisine.
It has a long history. The site was originally occupied by an Ibero-Roman fortified enclosure established in the 3rd-1st Centuries BC by the Romans for use by the indigenous Iberian population and to protect the road to the more important town of Coín. When the Romans left it fell into decline and remained neglected until the Moors came along and used the spot to build a fortress.
Monda may seem an odd place to establish such a grand venture, but its new accessibility to the coast makes it an ideal spot for a romantic weekend or for visiting businessmen who prefer to stay in a place less brash and bustling than Marbella
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