Málaga, the capital of a province and seat of a bishop, one of the oldest and most famous of Mediterranean ports, with 111,900 inhab., lies picturesquely on the last spurs of a circus of hills, 47 M. long, the Sierra Tejea, S. de Alhama, S. de Abdalajis, and S. de Mijas, which enclose the broad Bahía de Málaga. The inner part of this bay is bounded on the E. by the Punta de los Cántales, and on the W. by the Torre de Pimentel, near Torremolinos; between these rises the Gibralfaro, the castle-hill of Málaga, abutting on the harbour. The coast-line is gradually being extended seawards by the alluvial deposits of the Guadalmedina (Arabic ‘town-river’), whose bed, generally dry (Rambla), separates the old town from the W. suburbs. To the W. stretches the wonderfully fertile Vega or Hoya de Málaga, where even the sugar-cane, cotton, sweet potatoes (Convolvulus batatas), and cherimolias (Anona cherimolia) are cultivated. Most famous among the products of this luxuriant region are the raisins (pasas) and the wines of Málaga, which are yielded by the Axarquía (p. [88]), to the N.W., and by the Montes de Málaga and the hill of Colmenar, to the N.E., and which are chiefly exported by British and German firms. In the W. suburbs are several sugar, cotton, and iron factories, a rare phenomenon in Andalusia. To the E. are the villa-suburbs, the strangers’ quarter. Málaga is much resorted to as a winter residence, chiefly by British and Spanish visitors, on account of the mildness of its climate, the mean temperature of the three winter months being 55° Fahr.
The History of Málaga, the Malaca of antiquity, begins with the Phœnicians (p. [50]), who gave the town its name. Down to the time of Posidonius, the contemporary of Pompey and Cicero, it retained its Punic character (Strabo III, 4), differing therein from the towns of Iberian or of Greek origin. The Syrian and other Asiatic merchants who settled here formed distinct guilds. Although the port was of some importance in ancient times, it now contains no memorials of either the Phœnician (except a few coins) or of the Roman period. In 571 Leovigild, the Visigoth (p. [69]), wrested the town from the Byzantines. In 711 it was captured by the Moors, who regarded it as an earthly paradise, and whose Arabic writers vie with each other in extolling it. After 1246, along with Almería, it became one of the chief ports of the kingdom of Granada, but its mediæval glory ended with its conquest by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1487. For centuries Málaga remained utterly insignificant; but of late, in spite of the growing competition of Seville and Almería, its trade has improved considerably.
From the station we follow the tramway line and cross the Puente de Tetuán (Pl. B, 4) to the Paseo de la Alameda (Pl. B, C, 4), a promenade ¼ M. long and 138 ft. wide, planted with planes. At its W. end it is adorned with a marble Fountain executed in Genoa in 1560, and at the E. end with a statue of the Marqués de Larios. Adjoining this Paseo on the E. is the Plaza de Alfonso Suárez de Figueroa (Pl. C, 4), with a tasteful fountain, which leads to the new—
*Park (Parque or Jardines de Enrique Crooke Larios; Pl. C-E, 4, 3), planted with six rows of planes and palms and with fine flower-beds. View of the harbour, part of the cathedral, the Alcazaba, and the Gibralfaro.—The Paseo de Heredia (Pl. C, 5, 4) also, to the W. of the harbour, is planted with planes and palms.
The Harbour (Puerto; Pl. C, D, 4, 5) has been much improved since 1881. The E. pier, with the Lighthouse (Faro; Pl. D, 5), was already built in 1588. On the sand-hills behind the pier a poor suburb has sprung up, called the Barrio de Malagueta (Pl. E, F, 4, 3). On its N. side are the Plaza de Toros (Bull Ring; Pl. E, 3) and the Hospital Noble, erected for seamen by Dr. Noble, an English physician.—To the Caleta, see p. [92].
The Mercado (market-hall; Pl. B, C, 4), to the N. of the Alameda, deserves an early morning visit; the fish-stalls also are worth seeing. The horseshoe arch of the chief portal, with the motto of the Nasride dynasty (p. [74]), is a relic of the Moorish wharf, the Atarazana (Arabic Dâr as-San῾a, ‘arsenal’ or ‘place of work’).
From the Alameda issues the Calle del Marqués de Larios (Pl. C, 4, 3), the chief business street of Málaga (many cafés) and also a favourite resort of the fashionable and leisured classes. Another important commercial thoroughfare, to the N.E. of the Plaza de la Constitución, is the Calle de Granada (Pl. C, D, 3), officially called Calle de Salvador Solier, from which the Calle de Molina Larios leads to the cathedral.
The *Cathedral (Pl. C, D, 3; open 7–11 and 3 to 4.30, in summer 4 to 5.30), a massive edifice, marred, however, by the buildings on the E. side, occupies the site of a Moorish mosque, which was converted in 1487 into the Gothic Church of the Incarnation (Encarnación). The present church, which is built entirely of white limestone, was probably planned by Diego de Siloe (p. [76]) in 1538. The building progressed slowly, but in 1554 it already showed the arms of Philip II. of Spain and Queen Mary of England. In 1680 it was partly destroyed by an earthquake, but in 1719 the work was resumed with greater energy. It has, however, never been completed.
The chief W. façade, approached by a fine flight of marble steps and flanked with two projecting towers, rises opposite the Plaza del Obispo in two stories, articulated with Corinthian columns. Corresponding with the three portals are the round-arched windows of the second story. The N. tower, 280 ft. high, has a third story with Corinthian columns, surmounted by an octagon with a dome and lantern. The S. tower, like the central part of the façade, shows only the beginnings of a third story. The portals of the transept also are flanked with towers.
The Interior, with its nave and aisles and two rows of chapels, measures 377 by 246 ft. and is 131 ft. in height. The transept and the ambulatory are grandly proportioned. The round arches of the ornate vaulting are borne by two sets of pillars, one above the other, the lower being enriched with Corinthian pilasters.