Palacio de Congresos

The Congress Palace

The Ronda audio-guided tour presents you with the Palacio de Congresos, which gathers more than five centuries of history at the edge of the Tajo gorges, very close to the Puente Nuevo.

From a convent to a congress palace

Originally, the building was the convent of Santo Domingo, founded at the end of the fifteenth century by the Catholic Monarchs after the conquest of the city, and long used as the seat of the tribunal of the Inquisition, which made it an essential religious and judicial centre, marked by dark pages of history. After the departure of the Dominicans in the nineteenth century, the place served as a market hall then as a carpentry workshop, before being restored by the municipality at the end of the twentieth century. Inside remain the church and its remarkable polychrome Mudéjar ceiling, as well as a cloister. Since 2005, the building hosts congresses and cultural events, mixing heritage and contemporary activities.

What there is to see

The Palacio de Congresos charms with its setting at the edge of the gorges and with the vestiges of its conventual past: the church, the polychrome Mudéjar ceiling and the cloister, today devoted to exhibitions. A place of memory become a cultural space, it illustrates the multiple lives of a five-centuries-old building, a stone's throw from the Puente Nuevo.

Practical information

The Palacio de Congresos is at the edge of the Tajo gorges, near the Puente Nuevo, in Ronda. It hosts congresses, exhibitions and cultural events, whose hours and programming are to be checked on site.

What was the original function of the Palacio de Congresos?

It was the convent of Santo Domingo, founded at the end of the fifteenth century, which served notably as the seat of the tribunal of the Inquisition.

What remains of the convent inside?

The church and its polychrome Mudéjar ceiling, as well as a cloister now devoted to exhibitions and events.