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Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares (Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions) - Museums

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Museo Unicaja de Artes y Costumbres Populares

Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares (Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions)


A journey through the history of 19th-century Málaga, its province and folk customs. In this former 17th-century coaching inn we can stroll between carriages drawn by animals, observe forge crafts, baking, fishing or printing. We can learn about wine and oil making and discover the rural world, folklore and popular religion.

The collection

Two floors and 19 rooms house this collection aimed at presenting the daily life of Málaga, its customs, popular arts and local crafts. The ground floor focuses on rural areas, while the top storey shows the activities conducted in the central urban area.

After crossing the entrance courtyard you enter Room I or the "Stable", whose cobbled floor reminds us of the horse traffic through this area. Carriages, harness, accessories for pack animals and saddles are some pieces that can be seen.

In the "Forge" you can see a smithy with some articles made in it, such as braces or brackets for streetlights, being of special interest the characteristic windows bars used in the area. In Room III "The Bakery" we discover everything about bread-making, while Room IV, "Fishing" recreates one of Málaga's great historical industries.

In the "Chimney" you can walk into a kitchen of the period, and then go on into the "Dining Room" with furniture and household items typical of this time. In "Wine" the trades of viticulture and oenology are recovered; in the 19th century, Málaga played a leading role internationally in wine production and commerce.

In the same vein, another great local industry, the cultivation and production of oil can be seen in "The oil mill." Now on the top floor we can discover the "bourgeois Customs" with a representation of 19th-century costumes. "The Office", "The Cabinet" or "Bedroom" we complete our vision of how city dwellers lived.

To end the visit we shouldn't miss "Folklore", "Ceramics" or "Popular Religion" that will help us understand the life and customs of Málaga's recent history.

The building

This is a 17th-century building located in the centre of Málaga, in the old Victoria Inn. The old Inn was purchased in 1974 and restoration began; it was finally inaugurated in 1976.

The building dates from the 17th century, when it was used as an inn owned by the daughter of Miguel de Araso, Chamberlain to the Catholic Monarchs, and, in 1621, it was run by the Franciscan community Frailes Mínimos del Convento de la Victoria, and took its present name from them.

The floor plan is square with a trapezoid prolongation at the end where the stables were. It has a large central courtyard with galleries on the ground and upper floors, resting on columns covered with Moorish tiles that give a very singular appearance and contribute to the idea that the building may originally have been an old Muslim inn.

The type of construction is characteristic of homes in Lower Andalucía with two floors giving onto courtyards, which somehow combines Moorish and Italianate traditions of the 16th-17th centuries.


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