I have been to.... Malaga

 We recently spent a few days in Malaga, having a hankering to return to the Med after our cruise last year. I realised that it is well over ten years since I was last in Spain, when we cycled the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela. Although we used to go to Andalucia quite a bit back in the 1980s and 90s, I haven't been to the very south of Spain for over twenty years, and a place we always missed actually going into was Malaga. 

The city didn't suffer much damage in the SCW and has a large surviving old town between the river to the west  and the large hill with the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle on it to the east. The settlement is ancient, having first been founded by the Phoenicians 2,500 years ago.

The largest Roman remains are the theatre (exposed here), and just behind is the Moorish Alcazaba.

Our first trip was up to the Alcazaba at the eastern end of the old town. It is a walled palace complex at the bottom of the hill, and rather like a mini Alhambra.

The walls are very well preserved and restored. This is looking due west along the south side of the fortress.

In common with Moorish architecture on southern Spain, it is studded with delightful shady walled gardens with water features. We went fairly early, before th4 coach parties arrived, and it was very empty. It reminded my of the first time I went to Alhambra in 1982, when you could just walk in and wander around the deserted gardens, unlike now!

View from slightly higher up, the mountains behind the coast just visible in the distance, as is the port.

A lot of the internal features were beautifully preserved.

The main historical exhibits were various bits of restored pottery.

And a (massive) reconstruction of a pottery kiln.

I just loved the shady gardens with their integral water features. There is a small stream running along the path here. Some ideas for the garden at home.

Malaga is studded with numerous old churches, many of which feature external paintwork. The city has been undertaking a programme of restoration to recover these from under many, many layers of whitewash.

The main cathedral is an astonishingly huge structure. Like the cathedral in Granada, it is very hard to get large scale photos of it as it closely surrounded by buildings. This is one end of it, and shows the layer on layer of construction over the centuries. I can't recall who the Cardinal is. 

Trip number two was up to the top of Gibralfaro, (lighthouse hill - Jebel Faro). The castle was originally built here to protect the Alcazaba further down the mountain, and they are linked by fortified pathway which sadly isn't open to the public. We hiked up the mountain before it got too hot, although there is a road at the rear of it to give access to the Parador behind the castle.

It has a spectacular view right across the city, but I certainly wouldn't fancy hauling  cannon up here.

The Alcazaba is just visible further down the slopes, the Cathedral just beyond.

When the French were forced to retreat from Malaga in 1809 they rather unhelpfully blew up all the installations inside the castle, so it is somewhat bare inside. The only surviving building is the powder store, which tbh, I'm surprised wasn't the first thing to be blown up. 

The walls are in excellent condition, with the usual rigorous Spanish health and safety protocols in place. One young lad just jumped up on top of a wall to take a selfie, apparently oblivious to the 300' drop below. 

One of the old Moorish sentry boxes.

The old Powder Store has been converted into a visitors centre, with lots of great military exhibits. First up some uniforms.

Halbardier.

Musketeer. This figure seems the one most appropriately dressed for the climate.

Spanish Grenadier. A very interesting study of a 'white' uniform. It is made of quite thick wool and I really, really wouldn't fancy wearing this in summer. 

This from the siege of 1809. British supplied (?) uniform.

And from 1915 with a long Mauser. Also very thick wool.

Plan of the Castle and Alcazaba in relation to the port and Old Town.

A few firearms, a couple of Spanish Mausers. The pistol on the top right is an Astra, which George Orwell said was execrable.

I was very taken with this screw breech rifled cannon!

There were also lots and lots of toy soldiers in a variety of scales an uniforms. Well worth a visit.

The path up/down also gives an excellent view of the Bull Ring.

There are some formal gardens at the bottom of the hill which include a few surviving Roman bits, including this nice fountain.

Malaga is also the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, and there is an excellent Picasso Museum.

The Minotaur features a lot in his paintings around the SCW and WW2.

I really liked this one of an enthusiastic man eating an ice cream!

And a buffalo made from a bicycle saddle and handlebars.

This group rather reminded me of Barbara Hepworth. The museum had a lot of Picasso sculpture, something you don't see so much.

In the basement of the museum were various relics of the city. This is the corner of a Phoenecian building, from around 800 BC.

As is this wall section.

These are Phoenecian double headed oil lamps, also from around 700 BC.

The museum itself is inside a well restored sixteenth century Palace, with a typical courtyard.

We also went on a day trip to Cordoba. The typical Andalucian countryside (although it isn't usually quite this wet!). Olive groves, very rugged rocky hills and White Villages as far as you can see.

Although I've been to both Granada and Seville, I somehow missed Cordoba. It was both the Roman and Moorish capital, and at one point was the largest city in Western Europe with a population ten times that of London.

This is the old Roman bridge across the river.

Los Reyes Catholicos. Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Cordoba during the Reconquista.

The Mesquita (Mosque) was established around 679, and functions as a Cathedral today, making it one of the oldest public buildings still in general use in the world.

The Mosque is huge, albeit with lower ceilings than the Blue Mosque, it has these distinctive Romanesque double arches. The Moors re-used a lot of Roman and Visigoth columns in its construction, hence the different designs on the capitals.  

After the Reconquista, the Christians built a cathedral right in the middle of the Mosque.

Charles V in particular gifted some completely understated and non ostentatious additions!

Many of the ancient Moorish designs are extremely well preserved.

Relics of St Ursula.

There is a stunning Choir, carved from mahogany.

The Old City is also very well preserved, probably better than Malaga.

Oranges on the trees. These are last years crop and occasionally fell to the ground with a very heavy thud.

The courtyard in the Mosque has some spectacular orange gardens (when it isn't pouring with rain). The bell tower is a later addition.

Scattered along the river are a series of old Moorish water mills. This one has a restored water wheel.

This is the Alcazer de Los Reyes Catholicos, the castle built to defend the city end of the bridge. Unfortunately it was closed to visitors.

The sun did put his hat on eventually, and the honeyed stone of the city looked fabulous in the sunlight.

This is the castle at the southern end of the eiver bridge. In the very centre of the wall is the old Roman fort, surrounded by the Moorish one, then with a huge Christian one built on top of the lot.

From the other side it looks like a standard medieval castle.

Finally it was back to sunny Malaga and one last look at the Alcazaba and Roman Theatre as the sun set.

I probably haven't done it justice, but Malaga was a great city to visit in its own right, and not just as an airport to get to the Costa del Sol. It is also perfectly possible to put on half a pound a day in weight there, as what passes for 'tapas' are apparently four times the size of those in Asturias.  Deep fried Aubergines and cane honey are however not to be missed.