The Jardín Botánico Histórico La Concepción is a

landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "Landscape architecture, landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, r ...

with over one hundred and fifty years of history. It is located at the northern entrance of the Spanish city of

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

. This garden is one of the few gardens with subtropical plants that exist in Europe. It has more than fifty thousand plants, of two thousand species of tropical, subtropical, and autochthonous, highlighting the collection with more than one hundred different species of

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

s and its historical garden. It originally was a recreational estate of a family of the upper bourgeoisie of the city from the mid-19th century until 1990 when it became public property. The Málaga

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

founded for its management the Municipal Botanical Board 'Ciudad de Málaga'.

History

La Concepción was built around 1855 thanks to the work of the marriage formed by Jorge Loring y Oyarzábal and

Amalia Heredia Livermore Amalia Herédia Livermore (3 March 1830 – 16 October 1902) was a Spanish patron, collector, researcher, and philanthropist, as well as a promoter of arts and culture. Early years and education Amalia Heredia Livermore was born in Málaga, 1 ...

, marquis of the Casa Loring. Jorge Loring, one of the most influential people of the Málaga of the 19th century and personal friend of Cánovas del Castillo and of

Francisco Silvela Francisco Silvela y Le Vielleuze (15 December 1843, in Madrid – 29 May 1905, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who became Prime Minister of Spain on 3 May 1899, succeeding Práxedes Mateo Sagasta. He served in this capacity until 22 October ...

, was a successful businessman in addition to

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

. His wife Amalia Heredia Livermore, daughter of the industrialist Manuel Agustín Heredia, was a cultured woman, interested in plants, books and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. Thus, in La Concepción they treasured a substantial archaeological heritage of which there are still some remains in the form of Roman sculptures and mosaics; and a rich botanical heritage, thanks to the skill of a French gardener named Chamoussant among others. Museo loringiano

Following the financial bankruptcy of the Loring-Heredia family, the estate was bought in 1911 by the Echevarría Azcarate family (from the marriage of Rafael Echevarría Azcarate with Amalia Echevarrieta Mauri, making important improvements and expanding the collection of trees and palm trees. In 1943 the garden was declared a historical-artistic garden, today it's

Bien de Interés Cultural (, , , ) is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense). It includes not only mater ...

. When the couple dies, the estate is managed by Amalia's brother,

Horacio Echevarrieta Horacio Echevarrieta Maruri (15 September 1870 – 20 May 1963) was a Spaniards, Spanish businessman, banker, industrialist, patron of the arts, politician and diplomatic mediator. In 1927, he founded Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S. A. Oper ...

, who maintained it until his death in 1963. From this point, the property goes into decline and progressive abandonment. In 1990, the garden was acquired by the City Of Malaga and after four years of renovations and adaptation it opened up to the public. Since then, new spaces and gardens have been incorporated around the Historic Garden, in the form of themed gardens, highlighting those dedicated to

palm trees The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially ...

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They have adapted to grow in waterlo ...

s and

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

, others to

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

and

succulents In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meanin ...

or that of Around the World in Eighty Trees. La Concepción occupies an area of fifty-five hectares, of which twenty-five belong to the historic garden. Next to it, there are thematic gardens and a large area of natural native Mediterranean forest that can also be visited; they are the so-called forest route and the viewpoints route in the upper area of the garden.

Modern gardens

From the acquisition of the property by the Malaga City Council, different gardens were created with the modern characteristics of a botanical garden. These were gardens with collections arranged in such a way as to enable a more systematic and academic study than the historical garden allowed, originally conceived as a promenade garden. Among the largest routes and collections, it is worth highlighting the areas named: "Around the world in eighty trees", "The world map of palm trees", "The cactus garden", "The garden of Primitive plants", "The Rockery of Biodiversity ”and“ The hot stove ”, as well as some minor collections of bamboo, aquatic plants or vines. LaConcepcionMLG

Around the world in eighty trees

In 1997, the first modern botanical garden in La Concepción was created, focused on presenting the most frequent species on the five continents. This garden is organized as a path with trees on the right and left, arranged according to the continent of origin, totaling eighty specimens.

Shrubs A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

and

vines A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or wikt:scandent, scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; ...

have been planted among the trees, also separated by their usual geographic habitat, adding a hundred specimens from all parts of the planet.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Jardín histórico de La Concepción BIC

La Concepción. Jardín Botánico-Histórico de Málaga

Asociación de Amigos del Jardín Botánico-Histórico La Concepción

Aproximación a las villas de recreo de la familia Heredia en Málaga
1855 establishments in Spain Botanical gardens in Spain Continental gardens in the English Landscape Garden style