Marbella - ruins of Los Monjes
Trail: lineal
Difficulty: medium
Time: 3 hours
Distance: 4,5 Km's
View map
Beautiful walk that takes us up the Calaña stream to the ruins of Los Monjes (the Monks in Spanish).
To start off we have to get to the north of the city of Marbella, the area of the Xarblanca urbanization.
So we need to look out for the Marbella bus station that is at the exit named Avenida del Trapiche of road
E-15 o A-7. There is a roundabout with the bus station and a petrol station, we take the road towards the mountains. There is another roundabout, here we take the left, so we go round 3/4 of the roundabout. Then we follow the road all the way, past all the houses, don't take any other turns.
PHOTO: the trail begins down the bottom of this road
We will come to a small power plant right next to a little urbanization. Here we leave the car and we walk down the slope where the road is a dead end, cut off by the stream.
PHOTO: we walk alongside the stream most of the way
This is the stream Arroyo Calaña that takes the name Arroyo de Guadalpin more or less at this point.
The beginning of the trail is the most complicated part as the path is not very clear, but you have to cross the stream a few times to find the path a bit higher up. The difficulty depends on how much water the stream has, but it is usually very little.
During the whole way there are some blue paint marks on the rocks that help us follow the path in some places where it is rather doubtful.
PHOTO: the calaÑa stream
The path is easy and very pretty as the stream is with us nearly all the way.
We come to a small pine forest, that has seen better days. We continue up the valley following the stream.
There are moments when the path goes up parts of the stream that are dry, here the stream uses another path or is simply flowing underground. This is an indication that we are coming close to the area know as Los Monjes (the monks), where there are the ruins of an old church.
PHOTO: the Los Monjes ruins
The path suddenly turns back on itself at higher altitude. We will soon see the ruins.
The path continues past this point, up the hillside, going back south along the riverside but a lot higher up.
PHOTO: the trail takes us up along this hill
What we first encounter is a narrow part of the path, rather dangerous for young children, although there are chains installed to hold on to.
PHOTO: narrow pass with chains to hold on to
The trail continues now between bushes. We will soon begin to see the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Marbella. The view of the coast keeps getting wider. If we look down we can see the river from up high.
Finally we get to the top of a hill, about 350 meters high, from here we can see the coast of Marbella towards the east and if we look west we can see Puerto Banús and Nueva Andalucia, and if the day is clear, all the way to Gibraltar. If we look north we can see the top of the Cruz de Juanar mountain and the hill named La Laja.
PHOTO: a view of Marbella from the final viewpoint
PHOTO: a view of Puerto Banus from the final viewpoint
We go back to the car the same way we came up, a nice stroll down the hill and then alongside the stream.
Updated: march 2007
PHOTO: map of the Marbella - Marbella - ruins of Los Monjes trail - click to enlarge
