Then I had a few days on my own, while my brother went for work. Fuengirola is a beautiful town, and as my brother lived only few metres from the beach, I work up early to go to the seaside and enjoy the sunrise. It was some priceless moments, and I could feel how much I needed this kind of space during a hard time. I felt so grateful while enjoying those moments, and they helped me to recover and come back to the normal.
Well, I didn’t plan much for my trip. Only that I was going to Granada on that wednesday, and I asked my brother if he wanted to join me for that, and he did. But besides I had 4 days on my own. To travel alone is just priceless, you can just do whatever you want 😁
So yes, I decided to take the train to Málaga after breakfast. I thought of visiting the Alcazaba and Castillo de Gibralfaro. As I love to walk, I didn’t think much about it, and just bought my tickets.
Guess who you can meet at Pl. de la Marina? Yes, H C Andersen, who used to come to Málaga, as he too loved the city! 😉
You can buy the combined tickets for the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro for 5,50€ at the entrance of Alcazaba. There are unfortunately not any online services.
I chose not to buy any guided tours for these, as I mostly prefer to study and experience on my own. I feel that I then have enough time to focus on interesting stuff.
The Alcazaba of Málaga is said to be the best preserved of the ones in Spain. The word alcazaba is of Arabic origin; al-qasbah, which means citadel.
This alcazaba was constructed in the 11th century by the Hammudid dynasty, a berber-arab muslim dynasty.
Right next to the Alcazaba, you’ll find the remains of a Roman theatre, that was built in the 1st century BC. Some of the materials from this theatre were used in the construction of the Alcazaba 😏
After exploring the Alcazaba, I went to see the Castillo de Gibralfaro. You walk by the ascent through the Coracha district, where you’ll find the Gibralfaro viewpoint. Beware, because the Gibralfaro is actually a hill 😉
The Castillo de Gibralfaro is a castle located at the top of the Gibralfaro hill. There are remains of the fortification built during the kingdom of the calif Abdel-Rahman III, of the Phoenician civilization, about 770 BC.
During the 14th century, the sultan Yusuf I of the Kingdom of Granada expanded the fortificationm, and the castle was built. Then the coracha – a walled corridor connecting the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle was built, to protect the kingdom from the christians.
However the catholic monarchs king Ferdinand and queen Isabella reconqured Málaga during the 3-months siege, which ended when the hunger forced the Arabs to surrender.
Did you know that the name Gibralfaro is of Arabic and Greek origin?
Jbel, the Arabic word for mountain, and Faro, the Greek word for light – “Mountain of Light”.
It was a bright, sunny day, and I ended up being so thirsty, that I went for something to drink, and then exploring the Centro Historico, which I find to be the most charming part of Málaga ☺️ I ended up walking 12 km 🤣
