| Phil Thompson visits Malaga's gem. |
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| A
short bus ride from the centre of the city of Malaga in
Spain's Southern region of Andalucia lies the
historical garden of 'La Concepción'. Originally
created in 1855 the garden was the brainchild of newly
married couple, Jorge Loring Oyarzabal and the lovely
Amalia Heredia Livermore, granddaughter of the then British
Malaga Consul. |
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| The
entire estate consisted of 49 hectares of forest and
agricultural land within which the 23 hectares surrounding
their magnificent stately home was set aside as for what is
now regarded as one of the finest collections of tropical
plants in the whole of Europe. |
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| As
fully paid up members of the Spanish landed gentry the
dashing Jorge and the beautiful Amalia were perfectly entitled
to take advantage of their ownership of a
substantial tall-masted shipping company and began to import
exotic and rare species of plants from all four far-flung
corners of the globe. Whilst immensely creative and
passionate regarding their garden project they were not into
digging and thus employed the services of a renowned French
gardener by the name of Chamousst, who under their personal
instructions created one of the most exotically planted
gardens known to exist in Europe at that time. |
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| The
land they owned was typical of the hilly and undulating
terrain that surrounds the coastal city of Malaga and for
that reason and possibly because like all keen
gardeners Chamousst probably had a bad back, the natural
landscape of the area itself was used to form the
infrastructure of the garden. Fortunately for Jorge and
Amalia's project, in 1788 the then Bishop of Malaga,
Bishop Molina Lario, had commissioned a much needed water
aqueduct facility for the City of Malaga which was extended
to the farmland of the original farm or Finca de La
Concepciňn. As a result a number of simple pools,
fountains, small streams and delicate bridges were
integrated into the scheme and planting began. The constant
flow of exotic trees, palms, plants and shrubs from such
places as Indonesia, South America, Australasia and other
tropical lands eventually creating the magnificent garden we
can see and enjoy today. |
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| The
home and garden of Jorge and Amalia rapidly became a meeting
place and social back-drop for many important people of that
time. Politicians, artists, aristocrats and the noble Malaga
bourgeoisie all frequented its gardens. As a result, a
number of distinguished buildings were erected such as the
magnificent Stately Home, the cypress house, the
administrator's house, the gardener's hut and
the schoolhouse; two iron greenhouses; a large arbour;
fountains, footbridges, flights of steps, a delightful
viewpoint, and, most impressive of all, the Loring Museum, a
small, Doric-style building which housed the archaeological
discoveries unearthed in the excavations financed by the
estate's first owners. The cafeteria and gift shop
came later. Alas, the shipping and business empire of the
Loring family fell upon bad times which more than likely was
because of their propensity to give free carriage to their
ever increasing collection of plants. So, in 1911 the Loring
family were forced to sell the property to a married couple
from Bilbao, the Echevarria-Echevarrietas, who
enthusiastically extended the garden even further until in
1943 it was officially recognised by the Spanish Government
as a place of national cultural interest. Jorge and Amalia
would have been delighted! |
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| During
the time of the Spanish civil war the garden became somewhat
neglected and eventually in 1990 was purchased by the City
of Malaga Council. A year later the "City of
Malaga" Municipal Botanical Trust was founded to run
and administer the estate and after extensive work and
renovation the garden was opened to the public for the first
time in 1994. |
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| La
Concepción lies adjacent to the modern motorway link that
connects Malaga with Granada and Cordoba. But you'd
never know it was there. With the garden's dense
screening of palms and mature hedges that stretch around
its extensive perimeter the first indication that this is
something very special is experienced as you arrive outside
the entrance gates. Bordering that entrance are some 100
metres or more of vivid magenta Bougainvillea hedging.
Maintained at a height of 3 to 4 metres it straddles the
garden border like a blazing ticker-tape welcome to the
botanic riches within. |
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| My
first impression was initially subdued as I paid my small
entrance fee from a tiny kiosk adjoining a well ordered
gift and souvenir shop with a rather pretty outdoor
refreshment caféteria beyond. But from there civilisation
as I knew it abruptly ended! |
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| A
beautifully constructed tiled mosaic map of the entire
original garden layout stood before me which indicated in
beautiful graphic detail the original layout of the gardens
and owners manor house within. I chose what appeared to be
the most central route through the dense overhanging foliage
and started forward into what was to be an unforgettable
journey through an exotic tropical extravaganza of botancial
wonderland. |
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| Huge
overhanging plane trees stretched above my head creating an
imperious vaulted tunnel of foliage that completely blotted
out the hot midday sun above me but I strode onwards like an
explorer of old. Tightening the shoulder strap of my
essential camera equipment I checked my rations and cursed
my lack of foresight in not bringing with me a good supply
of water but quickly remembered that pretty little café by
the entrance and so strode onward with renewed vigour. |
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| Huge
species of Ficus reared up above me on the slope to my left
with their tangle of surface routes reminding me of a
stretched and badly knitted woollen jumper as they snaked
down the slope towards my pathway. Species of ferns and
palms with trunks the diameter of a ships funnel crowded in
behind with little sense of man-made order prevalent or
obvious but that's what nature does after 150 years
when undisturbed. And yet a subtle sense of control and
maintenance was there supporting nature's finest
efforts. Broad plantings of Amaryllis and species of Aloe
crowded spaces between majestic palms I'd never seen
before whilst thick vines twisted their way around branches
and stems like electrical wiring behind an old computer. An
ancient Yucca with a mullet of ancient desiccated leaves
towered 8 or 9 metres above me as if nature was telling me
it could do a much better job of gardening if people like me
would only leave it alone. |
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| I
continued to urge myself forward clicking left and then
right with my camera when I heard the sound of rushing water
and a blue sky ably supported with a burning overhead sun
blasted its way into the jungle landscape I'd been
immersed in. My view immediately broadened into a dense
crowd of yet more towering palms cohabiting with rigidly
upright Eucalyptus trees whose wonderfully coloured bark
formations were far too complex to have been carved by the
hand of any craftsman. I walked on under the canopy of a
date palm with an umbrella of enormous broad palm leaves
that completely eclipsed the hot sun. |
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| Every
few metres of twisting pathway brought a new experience, a
new sight and most definitely a new species. The quiet of
the place was almost un-nerving. No sound of the wind or any
sort of human habitation was perceptible. Just an occasional
rustle of the dense canopy of foliage many metres above my
head. This is truly an exceptional place to explore. |
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| Every
good explorer would without hesitation give his pith helmet
in exchange for the chance of stumbling across signs of some
ancient lost civilisation, and that is exactly what happened
to me. Just as I was contemplating lighting a bonfire of
damp palm leaves so the drifting smoke might be spotted
above the dense jungle canopy by some passing twin-engined
Dakota out searching for me I stepped into a breathtaking
spectacle. The skeletal remains of some sort of ancient
wrought-iron pergola of mind-boggling proportions, all
wrapped in the largest specimens of Wisteria I have ever
seen. What this extravaganza of nature must look like whilst
in full flower defies even my imagination but it must be
well worth a look. |
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| I
pushed on through this tunnel of horticultural love and as
exiting stopped to glance down at large bottomless pool of
still water surrounded by a monstrous specimen of Monstera
oblique, or Swiss Cheese plant to you and me. It was just at
that moment I heard what I imagined to be the first signs of
human habitation since I paid my entrance fee at the little
kiosk. |
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| Faint
shouting and laughter which indicated some sort of life form
other than botanical. I pushed on further past dense
screenings of towering Bamboo and Strelitzia Nicolai draped
with the exquisite black bird-like flowers so beloved of
bees with huge appetites and it was then I saw them. A lost
tribe of Spanish primary school children all wreathed in
smiles with huge sparkly eyes. Dressed in their Sunday best
clothes they were having the time of their lives whilst
their village elders contemplated a pre-printed map of Les
Jardines de La Concepión given freely by the man in the
little kiosk. It was all getting a bit surreal for me so I
shouted 'Hola', waved, smiled like an idiot and
hurried on past and straight into the biggest colonial
Georgian townhouse I've ever encountered. Carved into
a nearby plaque of solid ceramic tiling was a message in
ancient Spanish hieroglyphics proclaiming this was the
original home of Jorge and Amalia Loring and was now
utilised as the administrative headquarters and scientific
centre for study. All considered, as Stately Homes in the
middle of tropical jungles go, this one was quite
impressive. |
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| I
pushed on further, utilising the sun as my closest point of
reference, and couldn't help but be amazed by the
different species of tall dense groves of bamboo as I
entered the more recent 'themed' areas of the
gardens. Ancient species of Cycads growing amongst ficuses,
araucarias, casuarinas, magnolias, pines, cypresses and
cedars, with an area dominated by rare palms and unique
exhibits, such as a 7-bough date tree and a Chilean palm
which is one of the biggest of its type in Spain, as well as
a number of trees rarely found in these latitudes. Earlier
this year a revised catalogue of species found within the
gardens numbered some 38 pages in length so please excuse me
for not being more specific. |
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| After
3 hours of exploration I finally found myself exhausted,
hungry, thirsty but happy at the entrance to the pretty
little cafeteria. Sating my appetite with a tasty home-made
lasagne and quenching my thirst with a large cappuccino I
duly saluted Jorge and Amalia Loring as well as Malaga City
Council and, bidding farewell to the man in the little
kiosk, made my way home via the 61 bus to Malaga city
centre. |
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| As I
sat there in my favourite seat, two rows back from the
driver in his pale blue sweat stained shirt and creased dark
blue trousers, I contemplated my whole experience of
exploring the garden of La Concepción. Unlike any formal
garden I'd visited previously it exuded an unspoilt
natural environment combined with an almost air of
romanticism which perhaps reflects the passions of it's
original creators, Jorge and Amelia Loring. Theirs is a
wonderful story. Of travel across vast oceans and a shared
passion for exotic plants and tropical lands which they
replicated so admirably here on the Mediterranean coast of
Europe's most Southerly point and for that I thank
them. |
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| As
for myself, well, all considered explorers never had it so
good! |
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More from
Phil...
The Mediterranean Difference - A series of articles by Phil Thompson. |
