Ardales

Yesterday we went out to Ardales. a small village of about 3000 inhabitants situated on the main A-357 Campillos to Malaga road. We had passed it several times before when going to and from Malaga airport so we decided to pay a visit.

It took about an hour and forty five minutes to get there, taking one of my world famous short cuts across country via Teba. Normal journey time would be about an hour.

Still, it's nice to see parts of the area you wouldn't normally see..........Anne wasn't too impressed though!

Ardales from the main road.














A tiled plaque on a wall showing Ardales.

When we arrived in Ardales we followed the signs for the "Centro Historico" and arrived at the top of town where the castle and church pictured right were located.

Unfortunately, we couldn't gain access to the castle as the gate was locked and a plaque near the church stated that the castle was being used to store ancient artefacts from the village. So perhaps that was why it was locked but it would have been nice to have had a look.

The castle.













Just along from the church we came across this unusually designed house, not the normal style you see in a "Pueblo Blanco" or White Village.



After visiting the castle we returned to the car and headed for the centre of the village, arriving at the Plaza de San Isidro.

The picture right is of the centre looking towards the "Ayuntamiento" (Town Hall) in the foreground with the castle and church above.







The Ayuntamiento












The Ayuntamiento was beautifully decorated with blue and white tiles.













Anne spotted this sign but unfortunately the bar it was attached to was closed. On a hot day like today a pint of the black stuff would have gone down well.










Looking from the Ayuntamiento back down the Plaza de San Isidro.














































One of the few houses in the village that had decorative plants outside......just a few. Watering must take ages.









Before leaving Ardales, we went into a cafe called "La Alternativa" which Anne had seen earlier.
Looking around it became clear that it was dedicated to bullfighting, with many photo's on the walls and this mural painted covering one wall.









This is the stuffed head of a bull. There was a plaque underneath but I couldn't translate what it said.











After a couple of Cokes we headed home.







More information on Ardales can be found in the following link:
http://www.andalucia.com/province/malaga/ardales/home.htm