On the second day of yor visit,
we recommend that you visit the outskirts of the
dry where you can find the botanical gardens of
La Concepción, La Cónsula, El Retiro
and the park ofLas Contadoras. The Finca de la
Concepción (La Concepcion Estate), of Town
Hall ownership, combines a botanical and archeological
garden with an upper middle class atmosphere.
We get to it from the highway exit for Las Pedrizas.
It was built by the married couple lorge Loring
and Maria Arnalia Heredia livermoore, two significant
names of the oligarchy dominant in Malaga and
Spain during the 19th century. Its construction
began in 1850 and it was conceived under the collector
and erudite spirit of Maria Amalia Heredia Livermoore.
Apart from being a dwelling for luxury and leisure,
there is a garden where the selection of exotic
plants is on a par with areas crafted as picturesque
gardens, with fountains, rock garden and a neoclassical
pavillion, conceived to hold an important archeological
collection by lorge Loring. The Finca de La Consula
(La ConsuIa Estate) is also of Town Hall ownership
too. It is in the district of Churriana, with
the excellent weather and geographical conditions
of the Guadalhorce basin. It was built in 1806
by the consul of Prussia in Malaga. The house
evokes the neoclassical style adapted to the domestic
house, with a large porch with columns. Like the
previously mentioned house, the garden and its
species are the true attraction. Nowadays, the
Escuela de Hosteleria (School of Catering) of
Malaga is situated here, where there is an excelent
restaurant.
The Finca de El Retiro (El Retiro Estate) is the
pioneer in this kind of leisure houses in Malaga's
society. Its history began in the Middle Ages,
since it is believed that there existed a fortress-palace
of a Moslem prince in this place. In the 17th
century, it was acquired by Fray Alonso de Santo
Tomas, prior of the Dominican order and bishop
of Malaga, who built the house and the first orchard.
In the 18th century, the Counts of Buenavista
acquired it and enlarged the property and the
first landscaped area, the one known as ]ardin-patio
(Garden-courtyard) which was enlarged at the end
of that century as a jardin cortesano (court garden)
when it belonged to the count of Villalcazar de
Sirga. These historical gardens, adorned with
sculptures and fountains of the 17th and 18th
centuries, are one of the most beautiful private
gardens in Spain and an example, almost unique,
of the Rococo style in Andalucia.
The Montes de Malaga (Malaga Mountains) are the
mountains that close Malaga valley. You can get
to this route from the Fuente de Olletas (Olletas
Fountain), along the old road to Granada, which
is a turistic road nowadays, with impressive views
of the Malaga bay from the natural viewpoints.
The attraction of this route is not only due to
the panoramic view of the landscape but also because
of gastronomical and ethnological reasons. On
the road there are a lot of ventas (country inns)
(El Boticario, Cardenas, Galwey, of folk architecture
and over a century old, which according to legend,
gave shelter to highwaymen and stagecoaches);
these inns offer typical wines and inland cuisine,
especially pork products, prepared in the matanzas
(slaughters) and game. The wine, known as from
Los Montes (Mountains), sweet, dry or medium-sweet
is produced in the pagos of Malaga, name that
receives the grape growing soil of the area which
is full of winepresses. The Museo Etnografico
(Ethnographical Museum) is in the natural area
known as Torrijos. It is located on a farm, with
winepress, typical of the area. In this museum,
there are on show farming implements and tools
and machinery characteristic of wine production
in all its stages: grape treading, winepress,
filtering, deposits for fermentation in small
leather containers. On certain days of the grape
harvest, grape treading takes place and visitors
are alowed to enter and to participate in the
process of production of Malaga wine.
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