The garden La Concepcion is a unique jewel that combines a botanical part as well as a historical one. It was created by the marriage formed by Jorge Loring and Amalia Heredia, marquises of Casa-Loring. Both belonged to the high bourgeoisie of Malaga and here they created a contryside refuge like few others in Europe.
The beginning of this garden starts at the mid-nineteenth century, when the Marquises bought this estate and began with its design as a recreational garden. At the same time, they began to bring various archaeological findings that they had acquired in different parts of Andalusia.
Among these remains, the Lex Flavia Malacitana stands out. Formed by some bronze plates from the year 81 A.D. which contained the city law in Roman times. This law is currently exposed in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, and most of the rest of the collection is in the Museum of Malaga.
To house all these treasures, the marriage built an Ionic temple, small and simple but of great beauty. There they kept the Roman law along with other jewels. The rest was set in the open air, especially large Roman seated statues.
The garden itself is a compendium of all kinds of plants from different climates. We can highlight the lush tropical zone, crossed by metal bridges that came from the metal factory of Amalia’s father. Also you can find old greenhouses for growing plants.
In the middle of the garden is the Marquises country residence, a two-story building with a beautiful fountain on one of its sides, and where they would celebrate occasional parties. The place was not only the residence of the Loring-Heredia family, but also of their guests who spent some seasons on the estate. In fact, they had an exceptional guest, Empress Sisi of Austria.
One of our favorite places is the wisteria gazebo, a large metal structure under which outdoor receptions and dinners were held. Today they also hold events, such as weddings. But the best thing about this space is when, by March, the wisteria blooms and dyes the entire violet vault, in addition to leaving a heady perfume.
As if that was not enough, you can also find in the garden a part called around the world in 80 trees, another more desert area, a water lily pond next to the entrance or a romantic temple overlooking Malaga.
A reduced version of this garden exists in the center of Malaga. It is the Parque de Málaga itself, also a botanical garden with a great variety of species. The visit to this park is included in our Le Grand Tour, where you can even appreciate, thanks to virtual reality glasses, how formerly this area was sea. Thanks to this technology we will go back to the years 1200 and 1850 in a trip in time without equal.
