Málaga
From a circular cemetery to the first Protestant resting place and a cemetery on four towers
Oct 31, 2016 - 3:26 PM
A tour of the spectacular cemeteries in Málaga province
From a circular cemetery to the first Protestant resting place and a cemetery on four towers
Oct 31, 2016 - 3:26 PM
As people lay in eternal rest we find many not on the usual tourism visits which are unique in Spain, such as in Sayalonga which is almost circular to the St George’s Cemetery in Málaga
1. Sayalonga - ‘the circular’
What most surprises is the shape, almost circular and unheard in other places in Spain. In fact this cemetery in the Axarquía are really has an octagonal base. It was constructed in the XIX century with domed niches superimposed one on top of another, all in steps. In 2002 a museum and Interpretation Centre were inaugurated where they report on its origins
Legend and Masonic remains: the peculiar shape has some legends, such as the design was chosen for the dead ‘to not being back to back’. The legend also speaks on the existence of Masonic symbols in the area. Free guided visits.
2. San Miguel – ‘the monumental’
This cemetery is in the heart of Málaga city, above some hills in the district of Capuchinos, and is an authentic funeral museum, with more than 250 pantheons. In the neo-classical style, on the façade and behind the main chapel, either side of the oratory are two of the most impressive pantheons, named Larios and Heredia. The former is in a neo-Gothic style has offers the highest apex in San Miguel, while the marriage pantheon Heredia-Livermore has the signature of the Italian sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini, who would become the author of the chamber of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Illustrious residents: Precisely all the famous names from Málaga are recognised here with a multitude of personalities such as the musician Eduardo Ocón, the writer Jane Bowles, the poet Salvador Rueda or the painter José Denis Belgrano, and family members linked to Pablo Ruiz Picasso and the empress Eugenia de Montijo, included in the Andaluz General Catalogue of Historic Patronage, and is a BIC, it was blessed in 1837 and converted into Roman style in 1987
3. Benadalid – ‘of the four towers’
The remains of a Roman castle are the base for the deceased in this inland village in Málaga province, known popularly as the ‘four towers’. This historical space has been holy since 1821 when the Town Hall acquired it, but beforehand it had several uses, as a lookout tower to control the travellers from Sevilla and Algeciras in the Roman era or in the XV century, and residence of the Manor of the Count of Feria. On the doorway figures a plaque of Felipe IV with the date MDCXXXV and a large cross.
Place for partying: Apart from being the star monument in this hamlet, it is also perfect for local festivities. In the summer it hosts the Fiesta or Moors and Christians, which dates from XVIII, coinciding with the Patron Saint San Isidoro.
4. Álora – ‘Tombs moved from the Castle’
This Arab castle was declared a National Monument in 1931, and was for some years the village cemetery. Constructed by Arabs during the IX and X centuries, it origins date back to Phoenician and Roman times. In the walled enclosure outstands the Candle Tower, the lookout tower with an arch of a pointed horseshoe, unique in the Western world. Today only two towers remain.
Cubic Pantheon: Inside the old enclosure there was a cemetery, whose white tombs highlight a beautiful cubic pantheon, covered by four waters coated with green tiles. The last registered burial was in 2000. No longer a cemetery, it is used for activities related to the dead, as the Castle of Terror which is held this Saturday.
5. Casares – ‘White as the village’
The cemetery in Casares is found inside the interior of an old Castle, limited by ramparts constructed in the era of Hispanic-roman times during Islamic dominance. The whiteness flows from the niches to the village, and some of the neighbours have painted their tombs for identification.
Niches in a circular form: The structure is also peculiar, adapting to the topography of the land the niches unite in a circular form, with a background view from the mountains of the sierra of Utrera to complete the picture. Currently the castle area is very popular with tourists and next to the cemetery they have constructed rural houses, homes and businesses.
6. Casabermeja – ‘The dead buried upright’
Perhaps the most famous cemetery in Spain, declared a National Monument in 1980 and an Item of Cultural Interest (BIC) in 2006. Here numerous pantheons, burial mounds and pinnacles have consolidated into a small city for the dead, with narrow streets and cared for façades, an architectural jewel in the province.
Constructed in the XVIII century, the cemetery of San Sebastián is seen from the motorway where the tallest pavilions stand out.
Here the false myth arose that Casabermeja buried the dead feet first.
Verses on November: Although there is an extensive calendar year round, this acquires its maximum expression on New Saint’s Day when poetry recitals are celebrated ‘Verses to bury the summer’ and with the traditional lighting of torches and night time tours. In anticipation, the women whiten their niches and adorn their pantheons with flowers and light candles for the dead.
7. The English Cemetery – holy ground in a botanical garden
Singular from the start, the first Protestant Cemetery in Spain, located in the district of La Malagueta in Málaga city. It was constructed in 1831 on the initiative of a British consul for the colony of English residents in the city a holy place to give their dead a dignified burial, before they were buried surreptitiously on the beach.
Conceived as a botanic garden – it is home to diverse exotic species and at the time geraniums were brought from Gibraltar – with tombs placed on terraces facing the sea. In addition to the poet Jorge Guillén and the Spain lover Gerald Brenan, one of the most known tombs is of Robert Boyd, one of 52 shot dead without facing court by the general Torrijos on December 11, 1831. Also visible is the zone of antique graves, with tombs excavated from the earth and covered in seashells, most of them are children. In fact, one of the most popular tombs regards a baby called Violet who died a month old and on her epitaph it reads ‘let the violets last’ comparing the age of the lost with the duration of the plant which gave her name.
Memories of a drowning: Managed by the English Cemetery Foundation in Málaga, a non-profit organisation under the Anglican name of St George includes a monolith in remembrance of the German victims from the sinking of the frigate ‘Gneisenau’ in 1880. The Málaga population tried their best to rescue the crew and passengers, and a dozen or more died trying to do so. The last burial was in 1995, the last guardian of the place, Antonio Alcaide, who inherited the post from his grandfather and father.
Sayalonga
|
1. Sayalonga - ‘the circular’
What most surprises is the shape, almost circular and unheard in other places in Spain. In fact this cemetery in the Axarquía are really has an octagonal base. It was constructed in the XIX century with domed niches superimposed one on top of another, all in steps. In 2002 a museum and Interpretation Centre were inaugurated where they report on its origins
Legend and Masonic remains: the peculiar shape has some legends, such as the design was chosen for the dead ‘to not being back to back’. The legend also speaks on the existence of Masonic symbols in the area. Free guided visits.
San Miguel
|
2. San Miguel – ‘the monumental’
This cemetery is in the heart of Málaga city, above some hills in the district of Capuchinos, and is an authentic funeral museum, with more than 250 pantheons. In the neo-classical style, on the façade and behind the main chapel, either side of the oratory are two of the most impressive pantheons, named Larios and Heredia. The former is in a neo-Gothic style has offers the highest apex in San Miguel, while the marriage pantheon Heredia-Livermore has the signature of the Italian sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini, who would become the author of the chamber of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Illustrious residents: Precisely all the famous names from Málaga are recognised here with a multitude of personalities such as the musician Eduardo Ocón, the writer Jane Bowles, the poet Salvador Rueda or the painter José Denis Belgrano, and family members linked to Pablo Ruiz Picasso and the empress Eugenia de Montijo, included in the Andaluz General Catalogue of Historic Patronage, and is a BIC, it was blessed in 1837 and converted into Roman style in 1987
Benadalid
|
3. Benadalid – ‘of the four towers’
The remains of a Roman castle are the base for the deceased in this inland village in Málaga province, known popularly as the ‘four towers’. This historical space has been holy since 1821 when the Town Hall acquired it, but beforehand it had several uses, as a lookout tower to control the travellers from Sevilla and Algeciras in the Roman era or in the XV century, and residence of the Manor of the Count of Feria. On the doorway figures a plaque of Felipe IV with the date MDCXXXV and a large cross.
Place for partying: Apart from being the star monument in this hamlet, it is also perfect for local festivities. In the summer it hosts the Fiesta or Moors and Christians, which dates from XVIII, coinciding with the Patron Saint San Isidoro.
Álora
|
4. Álora – ‘Tombs moved from the Castle’
This Arab castle was declared a National Monument in 1931, and was for some years the village cemetery. Constructed by Arabs during the IX and X centuries, it origins date back to Phoenician and Roman times. In the walled enclosure outstands the Candle Tower, the lookout tower with an arch of a pointed horseshoe, unique in the Western world. Today only two towers remain.
Cubic Pantheon: Inside the old enclosure there was a cemetery, whose white tombs highlight a beautiful cubic pantheon, covered by four waters coated with green tiles. The last registered burial was in 2000. No longer a cemetery, it is used for activities related to the dead, as the Castle of Terror which is held this Saturday.
Casares
|
5. Casares – ‘White as the village’
The cemetery in Casares is found inside the interior of an old Castle, limited by ramparts constructed in the era of Hispanic-roman times during Islamic dominance. The whiteness flows from the niches to the village, and some of the neighbours have painted their tombs for identification.
Niches in a circular form: The structure is also peculiar, adapting to the topography of the land the niches unite in a circular form, with a background view from the mountains of the sierra of Utrera to complete the picture. Currently the castle area is very popular with tourists and next to the cemetery they have constructed rural houses, homes and businesses.
Casabermeja
|
6. Casabermeja – ‘The dead buried upright’
Perhaps the most famous cemetery in Spain, declared a National Monument in 1980 and an Item of Cultural Interest (BIC) in 2006. Here numerous pantheons, burial mounds and pinnacles have consolidated into a small city for the dead, with narrow streets and cared for façades, an architectural jewel in the province.
Constructed in the XVIII century, the cemetery of San Sebastián is seen from the motorway where the tallest pavilions stand out.
Here the false myth arose that Casabermeja buried the dead feet first.
Verses on November: Although there is an extensive calendar year round, this acquires its maximum expression on New Saint’s Day when poetry recitals are celebrated ‘Verses to bury the summer’ and with the traditional lighting of torches and night time tours. In anticipation, the women whiten their niches and adorn their pantheons with flowers and light candles for the dead.
English
|
7. The English Cemetery – holy ground in a botanical garden
Singular from the start, the first Protestant Cemetery in Spain, located in the district of La Malagueta in Málaga city. It was constructed in 1831 on the initiative of a British consul for the colony of English residents in the city a holy place to give their dead a dignified burial, before they were buried surreptitiously on the beach.
Conceived as a botanic garden – it is home to diverse exotic species and at the time geraniums were brought from Gibraltar – with tombs placed on terraces facing the sea. In addition to the poet Jorge Guillén and the Spain lover Gerald Brenan, one of the most known tombs is of Robert Boyd, one of 52 shot dead without facing court by the general Torrijos on December 11, 1831. Also visible is the zone of antique graves, with tombs excavated from the earth and covered in seashells, most of them are children. In fact, one of the most popular tombs regards a baby called Violet who died a month old and on her epitaph it reads ‘let the violets last’ comparing the age of the lost with the duration of the plant which gave her name.
Memories of a drowning: Managed by the English Cemetery Foundation in Málaga, a non-profit organisation under the Anglican name of St George includes a monolith in remembrance of the German victims from the sinking of the frigate ‘Gneisenau’ in 1880. The Málaga population tried their best to rescue the crew and passengers, and a dozen or more died trying to do so. The last burial was in 1995, the last guardian of the place, Antonio Alcaide, who inherited the post from his grandfather and father.
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