Did you know that in the very centre of Málaga there is the oldest protestant cemetery in the peninsula? Founded in 1831, this graveyard was conceived as a botanic garden faced to the sea, where exotic species can be found close to impressive mausoleums with classic, neogothic and modernist elements. In 2012 it was declared as a Patrimony of Cultural Heritage by the Govern of Andalusia, and it is considered a place of great cultural and artistic interest. Let’s go into all its secrets!
History
Before this graveyard were built, the death of a Protestant was supposed to be a very serious problem. Cemeteries were sanctified to Catholic Faith and corpses of those professing another religion couldn’t be buried in Spain. In Málaga, local authorities only allowed to carry bodies to the beach to bury them in the sun at moonlight, what caused a health problem. In view of this prohibition, William Mark, the British consul in the city felt committed to build a place for his compatriots to be buried. In the year 1829 the authorities in Málaga offered him a piece of land in the city’s outskirts. These were the early days of Málaga’s English Cemetery! Don’t you find it exciting?
The cemetery nowadays
Today it is more than just a graveyard, with several clearly differentiated areas. At the entrance we have a neogothic building conceived as the guard’house. When going on we face Saint George’s Chapel. Here is where religious rites were celebrated! Walking up we come to the cemetery’s oldest part, where the first graves can be found. They have the unique feature of being coated with shells!
Here many species of trees and plants can be seen! And many of its mausoleums are considered as monuments! To such a degree that it is included in the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe, due to its great artistic, historic, literary and botanic value.
Relevant information
It is located in the very centre of Málaga, in Pries Avenue, a few meters far from the Malagueta’s Bull ring. Entry is 4 euros, a symbolic amount for the place to be preserved.You must not miss it!
