If there’s one thing I love more than cathedrals, it’s castles. I love everything about them. I love imagining myself back into times when they were occupied, walking through dilapidated buildings and seeing the ghosts of soldiers, peasantry and royalty in my mind’s eye. I love thinking about the history of the place, thinking of besiegers and burning pitch and arrows flying through the air. I know, I’m a little strange like that. I’m probably at my happiest climbing the steep steps up guard towers, or squinting through arrow slots, or strolling along ramparts. Let me loose in an old castle and you probably won’t see me for the rest of the day.
All the big cities in Andalucía have their own alcazaba, a Moorish fort or palace, and Malaga is no exception. Although we decided to save our money for the palace in Seville, we took the red city sightseeing bus up the hill and visited the Castillo de Gibralfaro instead. Not much is left of the castle. There’s a one-room museum containing an interesting display of old maps and armaments and a little restaurant at which to enjoy a cup of coffee. The real attraction is the gardens and views of the city from atop the walls.
And what a view! On one side, you have the harbour, sunshine reflecting off the blue waters of the Mediterranean, an enormous cruise liner waiting to depart. And on the other side, the city, including a bird’s eye view of the cathedral and the local bull ring. The walls are dotted with tourists taking snapshots of the scenery, ooh’ing and aah’ing as they discover new angles from which to capture their memories.
For more posts in the Spain 2010 series, click here.Labels: alcazaba, Europe, Malaga, Spain
