The opening of the Museum of Málaga is getting closer, which comprises on one hand the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Archaeological Museum on the other. Surely, it will not be a museum like any other in the city. Finally they are going to do justice to the great cultural legacy that has been deposited in Malaga, which hasn’t been exposed for decades. The Customs House or “Palacio de la Aduana”, as a unique backdrop, will be where the city finally is going to be reconciled with a long-awaited collection.

We recently had the opportunity to pay a visit to the restoration works of its archaeological pieces. These works are being developed at the Botanical Garden of La Concepcion, another unique setting on the outskirts of Malaga, where many pieces are getting ready for display. In this case, most of them come from the “Loring” collection, a rich family from the nineteenth century that owned this very same rural estate where they are now being restored.

Until last year, one could see at La Concepcion, in a kind of open-air museum, part of this impressive collection, standing out a series of seated women, Roman statues found in the town of Cartama, from which only the bottom part remains.

Now these seated women, together with other pieces you could see in the gardens of the Alcazaba, are being repaired. In a laboratory installed on one of the buildings of the botanical garden, they are applying a system of cleaning, repair and preservation. They are also recovering some mosaics from Roman times of great value, not only for its age but for what they represent, with a spectacular “Birth of Venus” about 6 meters high that will be exhibited in the future museum of Malaga.

Along the pictures of this blog you can see by your own the effect of this restoration, from which we show as an example the restoration of a Roman sarcophagus. Most of these pieces were attacked by algae and debris, which have been extracted using respectful methods to the very works and also to the environment. They have had a special care, as they couldn’t alter the natural environment where they are.

Thanks to the interest of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain, the archaeological collection is going to be extended with another part, which had been already separated. The Institute bought a lot at the auction house Christie’s. In fact, some of the seated women are going to be finally completed thanks to this contribution.

It seems we are finally close to see the opening of the gates of the Palacio de la Aduana, so long-awaited and much-talked in the city. Many works that have been restored are already inside the building, and the remaining will have to leave the Botanical Garden of La Concepcion before December 6. Moreover, a budget dedicated to the new museum has been included in the general budget of the Andalusian Government for next year, which allows us to think that the opening of the new museum of Malaga is imminent.

The museum project is also something that intriguing, since many areas of the Palacio de la Aduana have never been open to the public and there is also a new space added under the pitched roof. It will be surely one of those privileged places with good city views. We can already get an idea of ​​how the inside will be, as the designers of the museum are the same team that has reshaped the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid (MAN), which has had so many good reviews.

Here we will keep you updated about this long-awaited Museum of Malaga, about which we started knowing, earlier this year, the composition of its collection. And of course, it will be one of the novelties in our private tours in Malaga 2016.