TEMPORARILY CLOSED

The Ecomuseum Lagar de Torrijos, an old wine press house in the mountains of Málaga dating back to 1843, has been largely preserved in its original state. This historic building houses a rich collection of antique tools used to produce Málaga's sweet wine, extract extra virgin olive oil and make bread. Spread over 900 square metres and two floors, it allows visitors to immerse themselves in the daily life and activities of its former inhabitants.

The Lagar de Torrijos Ecomuseum, located in the heart of Los Montes de Málaga and surrounded by a lush pine forest, is a prototype of the buildings used for the production and commercialisation of wine in the area, known as "lagars". During its heyday, more than 800 of these lagares operated in the region, boosting the international marketing of Málaga wines, from the best-known sweet wines to the semi-sweet and dry ones.

The main attraction at the Ecomuseum is an impressive press at the entrance, with a large tree trunk and a one-tonne stone used to crush and squeeze the grapes. Adjacent rooms display jars where the must fermented for about 40 days before being turned into wine. The wine was then stored in barrels for several months before being sold.

The museum's various rooms display the agricultural tools required to farm the area and different crops, including olive groves, which replaced wine production after the invasion of Phylloxera insect. The Lagar de Torrijos exhibits an old oil mill made up of three 200-kilo rollers which, moved by an animal, were used for the production of oil.

The museum also has a bread oven, which today is used for recreational workshops where visitors can participate in the making of handmade bread. The upper part of the house has rooms with period decorations to round off the visit, giving an insight into how the wine press workers lived in those days.

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