Monda

Monda is quite a large village with a population of around 2000, a working town, not a seaside resort. It’s built on a hillside with an Arab castle at the top and a Roman road at the bottom, so there’s lots of history to explore.

During the Roman era, the main coastal route, the Via Augusta, ran from Narbonne through Malaga and then on along the coast in the area we have just walked. The Calzada Romana here in Monda was part of a secondary group of roads that connected to the Via Augusta. It would have been used for moving agricultural products such as wheat, wine, and olive oil to the port of Malaga where they were shipped to Rome and to the legions stationed in Britain and Germany.

Everything I’ve read about Roman roads mentions what a good job they did of building them with a slight crown in the middle so water would drain off, so I don’t know what happened with this one, but it sure was wet and soggy this morning - beautiful to see, though, with a herringbone pattern in the stones.

The castle, Al-Mundat, was built as a fortress in the 9th century. After the Reconquest, many of the stones were reused to build houses in the growing town, but one of the old towers still remains. The rest has been incorporated into a hotel that has quite amazing views over the countryside.

Between those two points, everything is steep! We saw a car go down the steepest road we have ever seen a vehicle on. As we watched, the entire front part of the car disappeared, leaving just the brake lights visible. You’d have to be pretty brave to drive that street!

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