Surprising History in Malaga Part 1

A few weeks ago I wrote about spending some time on the south coast of Spain, in Andalusia, and about how impressed I was with the beauty, style and fun of the area. With the Spring sunshine starting to kick in properly here in Spain, I made another visit back to this coast, but this time to spend time in the city of Malaga. About 600,000 people live here, and it's quite a contradictory city, in that I could barely spot any hint of the English pubs and high prices of touristy Marbella. It's very close to some of the most British areas on the Costa del Sol, but really doesn't give it away in any serious way I could see. What I did see was a multi-cultural, chic city packed with energy and very much filled with fascinating history! This is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and this most modern version is stunning. Part two of this article looks at the Alcazaba in Malaga are more.

Number 1 - Malaga Cathedral

This 16th Century behemoth is a towering presence in Malaga, and allows visitors to simply, easily and instantly find their way using it as a reference point. You can see the cathedral from many parts of the old and newer parts of the city, and it dominates the city centre. The sheer scale and size of this construction was the most impressive part of it. Malaga is quite a delicate city, with beautiful palm tree lined avenues and pretty buildings, and so to walk around a medieval square and then suddenly follow the lines of the stone up and up and up 267 feet into the air is remarkable. The Baroque styling and carvings are incredibly intricate and there are several different parts (built in different periods) that really show the constantly developing nature of the city.

Number 2 - Roman Theatre

Especially in the area I live in (Extremadura) there are still plenty of sings of the Roman conquests of Spain more than 2000 years ago. In Malaga, these signs have almost disappeared entirely, except for one well-preserved and large site. The Roman Theatre, at the feet of the Alcazaba (which I will talk about in the next article), was amazingly only uncovered in 1951! The Casa de la Cultura building had sat on top of the site for a long time, but when renovations were being carried out the builders started to see signs of more ancient construction, and eventually this museum was completely demolished to make way for proper excavation.

Number 3 - Museo de Malaga

This central museum was architecturally one of my favourite buildings in the city, as it sits just on the edge of the palm tree lined Paseo del Parque, and leads towards the cathedral mentioned above and the largest commercial street, Alameda Principal. This museum is a combination of archaeological collection and fine art display. Malaga is known as the 'city of museums' and with many many options for art, history and architecture to see around the city, this name seems entirely deserved.