La Manguita (one-armed woman)

Today we docked in Malaga, Spain. I thought it was a small coastal town but once here we realized that this is a large port. There are 3 cruise ships here and this is a port where embarkation and debarkation takes place. So there are passengers coming and going.

Our plan today was to walk through town and see some sites that I had pulled up on the internet. One of Malaga’s claim to fame is the Cathedral. We could see it from our ship and knew the history before we arrived. Once there we paid 4 euros to go in which is something we almost never do. Almost all cathedral’s are free…..but here is the history that goes with the Cathedral.

It is one of the most beautiful in Spain. It was dedicated in 1487 as a cathedral though it was originally a mosque. In 1528 construction was started on the present cathedral and it became known as the Cathedral of the Encarnacion. The style was to be late Gothic. Then it was partly destroyed by an earthquake in 1680. Building then resumed in 1719 and then stopped in 1783 although the right tower was not finished for lack of money.

Because it is missing a tower the Cathedral is called “La Manguita” or one armed woman.

Now the reason why we didn’t object to paying the 8 euros for entrance. During the American War of Independence Bernado Galvez was a brave soldier from Spain who became the governor of Louisiana before the territory became French. During the war Galvez convinced the Spanish King Carlos III to divert the money that was going to be spent to complete the second tower of the Cathedral to help the Americans against the British. The money was spent for arms, food, medicine and blankets. So their money was given and used for us instead of finishing the tower.

It is truly a beautiful and very large Cathedral. It is considered one of the most beautiful in all of Spain.

The tower may or may not get finished. Some citizens want to finish it but there are many who want to leave the unfinished tower as it is.

We then walked uphill to the Alcazaba, the best preserved Moorish fortress in Spain built in the 8th century. It sits on the hill that overlooks the city of Malaga. There are more than 100 towers in the walls. It also has beautiful gardens and fountains also.

We walked back to the ship via the Malaga Park which is a city park that lies beside the port. It is over 100 years old and it was conceived as a botanical garden.

All in all it is a beautiful city.

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