Spain Guide
Andalucía
The catedral
Opening time: Mon– Fri 10am–6pm, Sat 10am–5pm, closed Sun except for services
Price: €3.50
The city's most conspicuous edifice seen from the heights of the Gibralfaro castle is the peculiar, unfinished Catedral. Constructed between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, it still lacks a tower on the west front because a radical malagueño bishop donated the earmarked money to the American War of Independence against the British. Unfortunately – and despite its huge scale – it also lacks any real inspiration and is distinguished only by an intricately carved seventeenth-century sillería (choirstall) by noted sculptor Pedro de Mena.
However, Iglesia del Sagrario (same ticket and hours), on the cathedral's northern flank, is worth a look, if only for its fine Gothic portal, dating from an earlier, uncompleted Isabelline church. Inside, a restored and magnificent gilded Plateresque retablo, which is brilliantly illuminated during services, is the work of Juan Balmaseda.