# Out of office: Malaga

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2019-07-18

35mm, architecture, beach, castle, citadel, defense, defensibility, design, fort, fortress, fuji-x-series, fujifilm, malaga, moors, photography, spain, the-med, travel, urbanism, view, water

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/4784c3c10a3287afb5c297393ea0fc55.jpg)

The above photo was taken on a walk up to the Castillo de Gibralfaro in Malaga, Spain. It was built by [the Moors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moors) during their occupation of the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages. It is located on Mount Gibralfaro (~130m up) in the center of the city, overlooking the historic core, the waterfront, and its lower elevation sibling -- the Alcazaba (or citadel). In the Middle Ages, this is what it meant for a city to be defensible. High ground. Formidable double walls. And places to shoot from. Thankfully, today, I think one could easily argue that "urban defensibility" tends to instead rely on things like knowledge, innovation, and diversity. Here are a couple of photos from inside the fortress. It is always amazing to see what labor was able to build without the technologies that we have today.

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/1b73a27d3bb57b9b2ca3b7b56f945528.jpg)![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/81fbc1d42e8d724fad245b02d2f6921b.jpg)![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/325decde909e92af2635179487cb239c.jpg)![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/67143e802a0c358cecb1b0754bf51b41.jpg)

Portions of it were built using a very elegant and elongated brick. Above is the bar area at the top. Presumably this was a later addition, though, supposedly the Moors did make and sell wine from the Andalucia region. If you ever find yourself in Malaga, this complex is a must visit.

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/out-of-office-malaga)*