Not Just Another Basilica

In my research I came across glowing reviews of a little known church in Malaga, the Basilica Real Santuario de Santa Maria de la Victoria. Since we had seen many traditional and impressive cathedrals we chose this one to visit. There was only one other English speaking visitor on our tour and our guide was obviously a devout Christian from the detailed explanations he gave. He took us into a blackened room and then he threw the light switch. We were in the crypt, a black and white morbid room with skeletons, the devil and a story of each symbol. An aristocratic couple from Italy paid a good sum of money to the monks to have the crypt and church built so they would be guaranteed a final resting place. The monks alone did the design and the couple never did get buried there because they died in Italy. Being in that room felt like a bad dream or the set of a horror movie.

The guide then took us up the stairs to the sanctuary, which he called the Heavenly Glory. He swings the doors open and now we are behind the altar. It was breathtaking! It took the monks seven years to create this space. The contrast of one area to the next was intentional because the monks wanted to convey heaven and hell, to entice people to make wise choices in their lives. They also designed the plain exterior to emphasize that you can’t tell a book from its cover. The guide then directed us to the side of the basilica to see where the monks once lived, which has now become a hospital. He told us that very few people visit the basilica so I promised to write a review on Trip Advisor, for which he was grateful.Read more