Malaga’s Botanical Gardens
We debated for a long while, whether we should take a day trip from Malaga to a village close by or spend our budget on something a little less draining on us all. Once again Sister #3 did her research and found that there were Bontanical gardens just on the outskirts of the city. We hailed a cab and were on our way.
This beautiful mosaic was just inside the gate, and we knew we were in for a special wander.
Here is some of the history of the gardens from their website. “The hacienda of La Concepción has its origin in the union of several farms located on the banks of the Guadalmedina River, north of the city of Malaga. With an agricultural vocation, there were crops of cereals, olive trees, almond trees, vines and, above all, citrus fruits. Its creators were the marquises of Casa Loring, Jorge Loring Oyarzábal and Amalia Heredia Livermore, both sons of well-known businessmen who came to the city in search of fortune. According to the jurist Rodríguez de Berlanga, the idea of making the garden came as a result of the visit to the palaces, villas, parks, haciendas and botanists that they met on their honeymoon, made throughout Europe seven years earlier. For the creation of the garden they had the help of a French gardener named Jacinto Chamoussent, who selected and acclimatized exotic plants, obtaining numerous awards for his work.”
“In 1911 La Concepción was sold to a couple from Bilbao formed by Rafael Echevarría and Amalia Echevarrieta, who expanded the garden with new areas such as the Arroyo de la Ninfa, the Avenida de Palmeras and the Mirador towards the city.”
“Once the Basque couple died, La Concepción passed into the hands of Amalia’s brother, Horacio Echevarrieta, who kept the hacienda in perfect condition until 1963, the year in which he died. From then on the estate went into open decline, with the abandonment by his heirs of its buildings and gardens.”
“The garden, recognized in 1943 as a “historical-artistic garden”, occupies 3.5 hectares. Its main value lies in its characteristic topography, its intact layout and the collection of subtropical flora it houses. Located on the side of a small mountain and with a landscape design, waterfalls, streams, fountains, stairways, greenhouses, large trees and old palm trees follow one another, the latter constitute one of the best existing collections in Europe.”
“This is called the Historic Viewpoint built by Rafael Echevarría around 1920, it is regionalist in style. From it you can see the cathedral, the castle and the mount of Gibralfaro, the mountains of Malaga, the sea in the background and the leafy grove of the Hacienda San José on the other side of the highway.”
“Of the more than 3,000 species present on the farm, there is an important monumental grove, with centenary specimens, where the ficus stand out, amidst magnolias, pines, cypresses and cedars, among others. There are also giant birds of paradise, bamboos, water lilies
and a unique climber that covers a huge arbor in iron of the nineteenth century.”
“This mansion was built as a recreational residence from the acquisition of the estate by Jorge Loring and Amalia Heredia in 1855. Built by the German architect August Orth, it is a classic style villa located on top of a hill from where you could see the entire estate and even the cathedral of Malaga and the sea. Its interior is organized around a central courtyard with marble fountain and double height with gallery, so that the rooms on the upper floor appear.”
“It had several rooms, billiard room, chapel, kitchens, cellar, numerous rooms and a celebrated library, where they gathered unpublished manuscripts, books of the fifteenth century, classic works and everything that was published related to the history of Malaga.”
Sister #2 and #3 appreciated the central courtyard as a spot to rest for just a bit.
I fell in love with Moorish tile when D and I visited the Alcazar in Seville a couple of years ago.
We enjoyed a picnic lunch in front of the house before making the descent back down.
With that, we were back at our starting point having enjoyed a jaunt in the country without leaving the city.
Kath’s quote: “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the (wo)man of imagination, nature is imagination itself. “-William Blake
Love never fails.