The Cathedral is undergoing multi-million euro restorations, with one specific goal: finally give her the roof she’s been waiting for.
Did you know that the incredible and imposing Málaga Cathedral, affectionately known as La Manquita, is now under serious renovation works? When you pass through Plaza del Obispo, you will hear the sound of construction and see cranes moving behind the Cathedral. That’s because the church is undergoing its largest maintenance project since its inauguration. We’re talking about millions of euros worth of restorations, all because of one reason, the same that makes the Cathedral so known and so loved by everyone: the fact that has never been finished.
If you live in Málaga, you’re probably already aware; if you just got here, you’re about to find out! The biggest Church of the city, as well as the episcopal seat of the entire province, has never truly been completed.
To understand this story, we have to start from the beginning, because where the Cathedral is today, there wasn’t always a Christian building. Before the Reconquista, there sat the most important Mosque of Málaga, the Mezquita Mayor. When Christian kings arrived here, they almost immediately converted this, and many other muslim buildings, into a Church, with works that lasted up until 1782: almost three hundred years of history.
Nothing remains of the Arab Mosque, except for the beautiful Patio de las Naranjas, a small treasure that brings us back in to the time of the Al-Andalus reign. What many don’t know, is that in 1782 the works don’t simply stop, the money simply ran out! There were no more funds to continue the Cathedral, and the most visible consequence is exactly the absence of the southern tower.
Manquita (which literally translates to “one-armed woman”) was actually meant to have both arms, but if you look at her you’ll realise that it’s not just her architecture, the tower pilars just abruptly stop almost at the top. Most importantly though, what is also often ignored is that the roof as well was never actually finished.
A roofless roof: the project to give cover to Manquita
If you were lucky enough to visit the Church before 2024, when renovations started, and went up the northern tower (the completed one) you would’ve seen all the different domes of the church, the raw structure of the internal intrados. The building was always meant to have a specific cover over them, but the same fate of the southern tower hit this as well.
During the centuries, the rain especially, impossible to contain, kept infiltrating the walls, causing over time serious damages to the structure as well as to the paintings and frescoes that deeply characterise the Cathedral. Remedial works kept on being added to the domes: in particular a brick cover, added in 2009, called Catalan-style roof, that was meant to insulate the naked walls. One of the biggest problem, though, is the heaviness of the whole structure, the impossibility for the domes to “breathe”, and the sensitivity to high temperatures, that caused severe cracks and therefore new infiltrations.
Which brings us to 2024, when they started the new works. What they’re doing is trying to recreate a laminated timber and steel roof, following really closely the 1764 project of Ventura Rodríguez. This roof will go over the domes, but still leaving a gap for ventilation, so that they can breathe. What you’re going to see from now on is just a normal tile ceiling. If everything goes well, and we sure hope it does, works should be finished in late 2027, so just one more year to go! But none of this would be happening without the joint help of public and private institutions alike.
Main protagonists are Diocese of Málaga, the Spanish Ministry of Culture, and Málaga City Council, in collaboration with the Unicaja Fondation, for a total of €17.5 million of investments.
Now, whenever you pass through Plaza del Obispo, you know exactly what’s happening: a piece of Málaga’s history is finally being completed.
