Málaga Cathedral

What makes it special

From Plaza del Obispo you can see where the nickname comes from: one tower rises to its full height and its twin was never completed. Local legend says the money for the second tower went instead to help Britain's American colonies win their independence.

Inside, raise your eyes to the vaults, built as a run of flat domes over three naves.

The choir stands in the middle of the central nave. Its 17th-century stalls are mahogany and cedar, so dark that they are lit to bring out the carving. Get close to the carved figures, because no two of them seem to be alike.

Above the stalls, two organs 22 metres high face each other across the choir.

Visiting

Buy your ticket at the door and collect the audio guide that comes with it. Its stops are numbered, so you can follow them in order and play each one when you reach it.

Stop 10 is the choir. Walk round to the back of it to find a marble Piedad, the Pietà.

Stop 11 is the main chapel, at the head of the church, and stop 12 is the Chapel of the Virgin of Monarchs. Play each stop while you stand in front of the thing it describes, then move on to the next number.

Guided or on your own

The audio guide comes with the ticket in up to ten languages and talks you through the numbered stops. Children's versions are made in Spanish, English, French, Italian, German, Dutch and Danish.

Skipping it is easy, because the choir fills the middle of the central nave and is hard to miss. Start there, then wander the aisles at your own pace. If you do use it, wear headphones or keep the volume low, because a loud player carries across the church.

Tips

Treat the free early entry as a quiet look, not a tour. It falls during Mass, so sit near the back, keep your voice down and put your phone away. Come back later on a ticket if you want the choir, the organs and the numbered stops explained.