Malaga

A great many unkind things have been spoken about Malaga in Spain, many of them true, but mostly because of the airport which has to deal with vast numbers of tourists whose prime concern is to get the hell out of the place.

I have started to take a look through some of my many boxes of photo prints with the view to transferring them to my computer and among the first subjects to be scanned are some taken in Spain in the early summer of 1998.

Malaga tends not to be visited other than a fleeting look through the coach window to and from the airport. It really deserves rather more as there are many things of interest for anyone wanting a bit more than the beach. We only managed a few hours there, but would have liked longer.

Malaga's 16th-century cathedral is situated at the centre of the old town on the site of the former main Mosque. This is a practice which occurred many times in Andalusia as the influence of the Moors was overcome. Construction of the cathedral began in 1528 and continued for several centuries. During the mid 18th century funds for building the second tower ran out and the project was never completed, giving the cathedral the nickname of 'La Manquita' ('the one-armed one').





The cathedral has been declared a national monument and includes striking features such as the richly ornamented choir stalls by Ortiz, Mena, and Michael. Indeed, the whole of the interior is most beautiful and lavishly decorated through out.



There is a very fine Cathedral Museum, located in the old chapter house which was built in the 18th century and now houses an important collection of religious paintings and sculptures, such as La Piedad by the famous Spanish painter Luis Morales, known as El Divino or The Divine, and a portrait of Saint Paul the hermit by Jose de Ribera, who emulated Caravaggio's chiaroscuro style. Other highlights of the collection include a rich display of religious ornaments made of ivory, gold and silver.


Also in the old quarter of the town is a building which was described to us as being the Town Hall. I rather suspect that it actually used have such a function, until a new and much larger building was built



One of the places that has opened since our last visit is The Picasso Museum of which I have heard much, but sadly not yet seen.

Time must be that a new visit to Spain is called for.