In the 1920s, prominent San Diego architect Richard Requa visited Europe. During his extensive tour, he carefully observed a Moorish king’s garden in Ronda, Spain. A book that he later authored stated: “In my travels about the world, I had found three gardens of outstanding interest and beauty… The finest of these is in a small town in southern Spain called Ronda. Viewing it for the first time, there came instantly to mind the spontaneous exclamation, ‘I hope to die before I see anything more lovely.'”
Inspired by what he’d seen, Requa designed the Casa del Rey Moro garden (House of the Moorish King) for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in San Diego’s Balboa Park. In 1997 the garden and adjacent House of Hospitality were rededicated after a major renovation. The garden, today a popular wedding spot, includes a replica of the wishing well in the Guadalajara Museum of Gardens.
Balboa Park is an enormous place full of competing attractions. It’s strange how I always feel compelled to walk through the Casa del Rey Moro garden!
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I really like this garden, too.
Beautiful! I actually live very close to Ronda in Spain 🙂
Have you seen the garden there?
I am not sure if I have, there is a lovely park with fountains very similar to your pics along the edge of the gorge there, maybe that is it!
This was one of my favorite spots when I visited Balboa Park. It’s so quiet and tucked away.
A lot of people miss it because it’s a bit off the beaten path!
I love these “tucked away” gems. Your photos are lovely, and I appreciate that you take shots from all angles, giving us, the viewers, a real good look. 🙂
I figure different angles help people visualize the entire space!