Palacio de la Aduana

The Palacio de la Aduana is a building in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, originally a customs house for the Port of Málaga.The building was proposed by Manuel Martín Rodríguez in 1787 and approved by Charles III of Spain. Work began in 1791 under the direction of administrador general of Customs Pedro Ortega Monroy and architects Miguel del Castillo and Ildefonso Valcárcel, who designed the principal façade and floor plans. Work was still under way in 1810 when the building was sacked during the occupation of Málaga by French forces during the Peninsular War; after the war, damage was repaired and construction continued. Architect Pedro Nolasco Ventura made various modifications to the plans, and the building was completed in 1829.The Neoclassical building was modeled on Renaissance Italian palaces. Four corridors or bays surround a central patio that is porticoed for the lower two floors; then set back on the third floor, where there is an open gallery with an openwork balustrade functioning as a parapet; between sections of the parapet are Roman busts atop low walls. The building has bossed exterior walls; towering palm trees that flank the main façade.