Iglesia de Santa María La Mayor

Iglesia de Santa María La Mayor tickets: which one to buy

Santa Maria la Mayor stands on the main square of the old Moorish quarter of Ronda, a few minutes' walk across the famous bridge from the newer part of town, and it is ticketed, with an audio guide included. The ticket also gives access to the upper gallery and the roof terrace, which has views over the square and the countryside.

Ronda is one of the most visited towns in Andalusia, usually as a day trip from Malaga, Marbella or Seville, and those tours allow a few hours: enough for the bridge, the bullring, the walk along the gorge and perhaps one church, and this is the church to choose. Walking tours of the old town include it along with the Arab baths, the Mondragon palace and the walls. The church is a short walk from the bus and train stations, and it is busiest in the middle of the day. The audio guide covers the church and the roof in several languages.

Visiting Iglesia de Santa María La Mayor: what to see

The church was built on the site of Ronda's main mosque after the Christian conquest of the town in 1485, and its structure preserves the history of that change. A horseshoe arch and part of the mihrab, the prayer niche of the mosque, decorated with Arabic inscriptions and stucco, survive near the entrance. The bell tower was built on the base of the minaret. The church was rebuilt over the following two centuries: the front part of the interior is late Gothic, while the chancel is Renaissance, after an earthquake in 1580 destroyed much of the older building.

The interior has an ornate carved choir, a large baroque altarpiece and several chapels. On the outside, facing the square, a long two-storey gallery with arcades was built so that the town's dignitaries could watch festivities, including bullfights, in the square below. A small museum of religious objects and vestments is included in the ticket and occupies rooms off the nave.

Iglesia de Santa María La Mayor opening hours and the best time to go

Ronda is crowded with coach tours in the middle of the day, especially from spring to autumn, and the old town is at its best in the early morning or late afternoon. Staying overnight lets you see the bridge and the gorge lit up at night and have the streets almost to yourself in the morning. Summer is hot, though Ronda's height makes it slightly cooler than the coast.

Holy Week brings processions of the town's brotherhoods through the old quarter. The Goyesca festival in early September includes a bullfight in period costume and fills the town. The church closes at lunchtime in some seasons. Allow thirty to forty minutes for the church and the roof, and walk on to the viewpoints over the gorge. The walk down to the bottom of the gorge for the view of the bridge takes about twenty minutes and is steep.