Bornos

The inspiration for today's visit was the blog of Geoff and Jane Forster at http://www.property-in-the-sun.com/ who have a fantastic "Places to visit" page and who had described the palace gardens at Bornos as worth a visit. Also to our friend Russell Kilde, now back on Vancouver Island Canada, who had mentioned when we met in Olvera a couple of months ago that Bornos was definately worth a visit. So we set off this morning with high hopes.

Bornos is located about 38 kms west of Olvera, on the main A384 heading towards Arcos. We drove right into the centre of town as unusually the streets were quite wide and parked near to the Plaza de 1st Mayo.The tiled plaque pictured above is typical of towns and villages in Andalucia.

The Plaza de 1st Mayo that leads to one of several entrances into the cloisters and gardens next to the Castillo Palacio de Los Ribera.

The gardens were an absolute delight with many different varieties of plants and trees.

After spending 30 minutes or so just savouring the smells and tranquility of the gardens we came upon a small kiosk in a corner where a lady who we later found out was called Charin Ruiz asked if we wished to go into the palace. We had noticed on our walk around the gardens that the access doors were closed and locked.

Without hesitation we said yes and followed Charin to the entrance where she unlocked the door. She explained in very good english that the main part of the the palace was built in the 15th century but the old tower that still stood dated to the 9th century.

Despite the restoration work that was ongoing, Charin told us that we were free to wander anywhere we wanted. She explained that Bornos had so many sites of interest to visit, this one in particular, but that very few tourists or visitor's found their way here due to lack of promotion and advertising. Indeed, we ourselves had driven past on many occasions on our way to somewhere else so we are happy to give Bornos a plug and hopefully boost the tourist trade.Anyway, after removing some wooden pallette's blocking a stairway, we continued on our journey of exploration.

And what a fabulous place. The galleries were superb and the views from the top of the tower were fantastic.

We wandered in and out of every room that we wanted, admiring the restoration work that had been completed, looking at all that had yet to be done.

This gargoyle was still awaiting a facelift.
Views from the tower looking across to the reservoir at the bottom of the town.





The galleries and courtyard of the palace.
















Our wanderings eventually led us to the the tourist information office on the other side of the palace and like Charin, the lady here couldn't have been more helpful, giving us leaflets and local maps.

We left the palace, had a short wander around the streets of Bornos before returning to the car for the short journey home. Just before leaving town, we noticed this building so stopped to have a look.

It turned out to be the 16th century Corpus Christi Convent, which was also undergoing restoration so we were unable to obtain access but definitely a place to come back to.

There was however an interesting work of art in the courtyard which I took to be Don Quixote.

The Ayuntamiento (Town Hall).

Bornos is well worth a visit. The people as we have found on all our travels are very friendly and helpful and we look forward to a return visit.