Malaga

This tour presents interesting samples of baroque urban development, architecture and art, influenced by the two main cores of Andalusian baroque - Granada and Seville - and by the diversity of materials used: stone, brick, plaster, and white-washed rubblework.

In Málaga, the most outstanding cluster includes the Cathedral-Sagrario church-Episcopal Palace and the Church of La Victoria. The main façade of the Cathedral is particularly fine (José de Bada).

In La Victoria, we have the Crypt of the Count of Buenavista (F. Unzurrúnzaga). Worthy of note are the churches of Santo Cristo, Santiago, San Juan, Santos Mártires and San Felipe Neri, the Hospital of San Julián and Hermitage of Cristo de Zamarilla.

At Churriana, in El Retiro Farm, there is the most beautiful private garden in Andalusia, designed in 1771 by Martín de Aldehuela. On the way to the hills, we can stop at Cártama to see the Hermitage of Los Remedies and at Coín for the church and sanctuary of la Fuensanta.

At Ronda, together with religious architecture - churches of Padre Jesús and Santa María, Convents of Santa Isabel and Madre de Dios, Temple of Virgen de los Dolores - there are important civilian buildings such as the New Bridge and the bullring, Casa del Rey Moro, and the Palace of the Marquess of Salvatierra.

Antequera is one of baroque´s convent-towns. Found in a strategic location between the two Andalusias, there are countless churches (El Carmen, Loreto, San José, Belén, Remedies, Victoria, Santiago), brick towers (Colegiata de San Sebastián, San Agustín, Madre de Dios), the Hospital of San Juan de Dios, chapels (El Pertichuelo, Cruz Blanca, Triunfo de la Inmaculada), and the Palace of the Marquess of Villadarias.

At Campillos, the parish church is good, with a façade by A.M. Figueroa. In Archidona, of interest are the eight-sided square, the communal granary and churches of Jesús y María, Santo Domingo, Santa Ana and La Victoria and the Hermitage of El Nazareno. Along the coast, there is another important baroque centre: Vélez Málaga, where there are the church of the Barefoot Carmelites, San Francisco, San Juan, and Nuestra Señora de Gracia. Macharaviaya has a notable parish church dating from 1783.