Culture

+Mallorca: the magazine of Mallorca

More than sun and beach..

Can Balaguer, permanent proof of Palma’s stately past

Can Balaguer is right in the centre of Palma, right next to the commercial area of Jaime III and the Paseo del Born. Thanks to a six-year renovation by the council, it is possible to see what a traditional stately home was like in Palma, and how these evolved between...

Can Prunera Modernist Museum, calendar

There is a varied selection of exhibitions programmed for the Can Prunera Modernist Museum for this year. There will be an exhibition of Mallorca’s classic landscapes, “Paisajes Clásicos en Mallorca” featuring the Serra de Tramuntana, the north coast of Mallorca, the...

The bastions of Sant Pere and of the Prince recover the fortified Palma

The ancient city walls of Palma were knocked down decades ago, but some valuable traces remain: the bastions of Sant Pere and of the Prince, right on the sea front, the only survivors out of the thirteen that marked the ancient renaissance city wall. The...

The Garden of the Hespérides, Alcúdia

Did you know that the garden of the Hesperides is found in Punta Alcanada (Mallorca) Pinar’s hill? Sa Bassa Blanca Museum (msbb) is that treasure facing the sea, hidden among the pines, that so many travelers and sailors have sought. Here, a perfect combination of...

Mallorca medieval II – Resettlement churches

Castellitx, Santa Lucía, Sant Pere d’Escorca, Santa Ana, Sant Miquel de Campanet, La Sangre in Muro, Santa Fe in Palma. Most of these 13th-century Majorcan churches are now 14th century Gothic or completely rebuilt during the centuries that followed. Therefore,...

The Myotragus Balearicus in Mallorca

The Myotragus Balearicus was a mammal, endemic to Mallorca. Was discovered in 1909 by the palaeontologist Dorothea Bate. It is a largest mammal of the islands and belongs to the antelope family. Its remains have been found next to human objects and bones, proving that...

El Palau March, a must-see on Palma’s cultural circuit

Commissioned by Mallorcan financier Joan March Ordinas, the March Palace, located in the old town -- specifically, where Conquistador Street meets the steps of the Cathedral, and with its main entrance on Palau Reial Street --, was built between 1939 and 1945. The...

Landscape Worship

Landscape Worship: Interpretation of landscapes can be varied, and depends on each person’s technique. If we focus on pictorial art, many tendencies linked to landscapes have made the art of painting one of the most accepted by human beings, as it has been in their...

Palma de Mallorca’s old Botanic Gardens

The Jardines de la Misericordia (Gardens of Mercy) is a small, charming park that abounds with vegetation, sunny and shady areas as well as pleasant corners perfect for some quiet reading time. Noteworthy is a massive tree that stands out in the park, it was planted...

Cabrit i Bassa – Alaró Castle

During the talayót era and before the conquest by the crown of Aragon, this castle used to be the centre of the Arabian resistance. The castle is famous due to the fact that in the thirteenth century, Guillem Cabrit and Guillem Bassa, two courageous defenders were...

Can Prunera. A modernist Museum

Back in 1911 Joan Magraner and Margalida Vicens opened their modernist mansion in Calle Lluna, Soller. A century later, the Fundació Tren de L‘Art purchased and renovated the property returning it to its former glory. A terrible plague attacked Sóller's fruit trees in...

The Luliano Studio: promoting culture in Mallorca since the 15th century

Palma’s Calle Sant Roc 4, holds a long cultural tradition. This palace, that backs on to the Cathedral, has hosted the headquarters of many study related institutions. In 1483 Fernando el Católico, at the request of the jurats of Mallorca: Mallorca’s Real y...

Mallorca will be celebrating Father Juníper Serra year

Fray Junípero Serra / placa en Petra

Antonia Tomás’s Nativity Scene, a tradition in Mallorca

Antonia Tomás has a special way of celebrating Christmas. Each year she creates a nativity scene that has been getting bigger and bigger as time has passed and this year it will stand no less than 34m2 tall. Every Christmas, hundreds of people from throughout...

The ancient Roman city of Pollentia

The ancient Roman city of Pollentia is located within the medieval walls of the old historical centre of Alcúdia. Founded by the consul Quintus Caecilus Metellus, leader of the Roman expedition that conquered the Island in the year 123 BC....

Territorial model study of roman in Mallorca

The importance and efficiency of using a planning and comprehensive planning and conscious Mallorca goes back to Roman colonization. That is why I have focused my study at this time s. I to V AD. and the territory of Mallorca especially, but found the model is also...

Dry Stone walls, a popularly developed and perfected art

Dry Stone walls go right back to prehistoric times, we can see examples such as the “navetas” or the “talayots” (local prehistoric structures), and extends further than the Mediterranean, as far as Japan or Cuzco. Dry stone work In the Balearic Islands, it has formed...

Art, market and Mallorca?

Market and art; until now two almost contradicting words that when placed together in a sentence can even offend those who think that artists come from another planet and that they can survive with just love and air. Now, if we add to both these words “in Mallorca” we...

Birth of the King James I

James I of Aragon, the son of Peter II the Catholic, King of Aragon and Earl of Barcelona and of Mary of Montpellier was born in Montpellier (France) in 1208. He was the King of Aragon (1213-1276), of Valencia (1239-76) and Mallorca (1229-1276). He also held the...

A stroll around Santanyí and its coves

In 1571 a wall was built to protect Santanyí from looting by the Saracens, we still access the town’s centre through the old porta murada (gateway). Its winding streets take us to the Town Hall square and the Sant Andreu church (18th–19th centuries). Inside the...

‘Dress of the countryman’, typical dress of Mallorca

Traditional dress plays an important role in Mallorca’s history and culture. Known as the “dress of the countryman” or “baggy dress”, it is the typical clothing worn by the general population in imitation of the upper classes. It is often the attire donned for...

Mallorcan Patios of Palma: Son Vivot in the street Can Savellà

When walking around the heart of Palma, we come across many Majorcan patios that bear witness to history, art and time. One of the most emblematic of these can be found in Can Vivot, on Calle Can Savellà number 4. This manor house was declared an Asset of Cultural...

Forbidden loves and shopping in Palma’s Jewish quarter

The Jewish community spread out across various areas of Palma, making its mark throughout a large area of the historic centre. Walking round the “call major” and “call menor” we can explore the pretty streets in the city centre. During Muslim rule the Jews lived...

Ca’n Carasses, Italian architecture in Palma

Ca’n Carasses or Ca’n Pavese is a building in the middle of Palma. Despite its medieval structure, what it is truly famous for are the grotesque faces carved over the entrance door and window architraves. These faces come from a remodel, and are a clear example...

The Santueri castle

The Santueri castle is located strategically on top of a hill, at 408 metres above sea level in Majorca’s Serra de de Llevant. Protected by steep cliffs, it was rebuilt in the 14th Century on top of the ruins of an Arab fortress, which in...

Mallorcan patios

The patios of the noble houses in Palma are one of the urban elements most characteristic of the city. While today, their preservation constitutes a historical reference that makes the Mallorcan capital unique within Spain, in their age of splendour they were the very...

Painting in Mallorca

A tour: from the end of the 19th century till the beginning of the 20th. Many different cultures, social and intellectual movements have met in Mallorca. Going right back to Phoenician, Greek and Roman times we can see how all of these influences have given Mallorca...

Palma or the modernist route

Modernism arose in Europe during the final decade of the nineteenth century as a reaction to the Classicism of the previous centuries. It prevailed across all art forms (painting, sculpture, applied arts…), which sought to reassess the role of the artist in the face...

The reign of King James I (II)

The beginning of reign of King James I was marked by the battle of Muret (1213), in which his father Peter II the Catholic, died and left little James to Simon of Monfort’s – the winner of the Battle of Muret – custody. Simon held James as a hostage until Pope...

Bendinat Castle

History Bendinat Castle Bendinat is an old Moorish farm estate, documented in the 13th century with the name ‘Bendinex’. It has passed through the hands of several families since the 15th century, but it was the marriage between Pedro Caro Álvarez of Toledo and...

The Temple that’s still of use in Palma de Mallorca

Calle Temple number 9 is built over an archway that looks like a fortified door. And it is, it covers old Muslim towers and was the access point to the Temple fortress. The Templars were granted property in reward for their help conquering Mallorca, and they...

Palma City Hall and Consell Insular: captivating samples of baroque and neo-gothic structures in Mallorca

City Hall presides over Plaza de Cort, and all the pretty streets that lead to it; next to City Hall is the palace that is home to the Consell Insular. City Hall was built between 1649 and 1680 following the schematics of a Majorcan manor house,...

El Águila and Can Forteza Rey, two examples of modernism in Palma

The building that housed the El Águila stores and the Can Forteza Rey building, located in Plaza del Marqués del Palmer in Palma, are so closely linked that they seem to be one building. They represent different examples of modernist architecture. The El Águila...

Maria Antònia Salvà

Maria Antonia Salvà (1869 – 1958) is the foremost modern Catalan poet. She lived the early part of her life in La Llapassa, Llucmajor, with her aunts. The contact with the Mallorcan Renaissance and her friendship with the family of Miquel Costa i Llobera developed her...

Son Real (beach and archaeological ruins)

The Son Real public estate, with an area of 395 hectares, is located on the Northeast coast of Mallorca, in the municipality of Santa Margalida. There are important archaeological, ethnographic and natural remains, which make it a great open-air museum. It is a unique...

Arab Baths in Palma

One of the few remaining examples of Moslem architecture still preserved on the island, the Arab Baths can be found in the gardens of Can Fontirroig, situated in Number 7 of the Can Serra street in Palma. Only the central room —destined to hot baths— and another...

“Snow Houses” before Mallorca had fridges

The so called “snow houses” are an important part of our cultural and ethnological heritage. In Mallorca, collecting and trading snow to make ice dates right back to the 16th century. On the Puig de Masanella you can still see eleven snow houses that were declared...

Bulls of Costitx

The “Bulls of Costitx” or “Caps de Bous” (Bull Heads) are three bronze heads from the Talayot period. Bulls of Costitx Found in the year 1894 during excavations at the sanctuary of Son Corró, they were acquired by the National Archaeological Museum, where they are...

Diocesan Museum, 100 years in Mallorca

A visit to the Diocesan Museum in Mallorca includes a full tour of the island’s Christian art. The permeant collection of the Diocesan Museum housed here includes works from Early Christian times until the 20th century, as well as baroque and renaissance pieces. One...

Palma de Mallorca’s “La Lonja” and it’s guardian angel

There is a magnificent monument on the Paseo Sagrera in Palma de Mallorca that cannot be missed when one visits the city. La Lonja is a marvel of gothic flamboyance, built back in the 15th century. Mallorca’s merchant association commissioned the architect Guillerm...

Lessons in art at the Museu de Mallorca

The Museu de Mallorca exhibits works of the fine and decorative arts, that cover the period from the conquest of Mallorca, in the 13th century, until the first decades of the 20th century. "It is housed in a beautiful building in Palma’s Old Town, just behind Parc de...

Palma de Mallorca’s first four churches

Let’s take a walk through the city's main streets, visiting the first churches to be founded after the conquest of Mallorca. The route starts with Santa Creu, on the corner of Santa Creu and Sant Llorenç streets. This is a beautiful church that doesn’t...

Typical product Mallorca: Siurells

When that came out of Siurell figurine, have been attributed to this small flute magic forces. The winds of Mallorca, Gregal, Llevant, Xaloc, Migjorn, Llebeig, Ponent, Mistral and Tramontana, sometimes infused with fear. For the inhabitants were uncontrollable forces...

The Gothic cloisters of Sant Francesc, a haven of peace dating back to the 13th century

The Sant Francesc Royal convent in Palma de Mallorca, set in the square bearing the same name, has a beautiful, perfectly conserved Gothic cloister and constitutes one of the first expressions of this architectural style in Mallorca. It has an irregular...

A monastic life of meditation in Palma

Behind the walls of the Santa Maria Magdalena convent, we find the regular Lateran canonesses nuns. Crossing a flower walkway, we find the barefoot Carmelites. Just a few meters way, in the Old Town, there are two more cloistered convents. In Calle de Les Caputxines,...

The Byzantine and Islamic domination

Between 455 and 534 the island confronted part of the Vandal Kingdom. Already in 425 they had landed in the island, they plundered and destroyed Pollentia. From the year 534, Majorca began to form a part of the Byzantine Empire. Justiniano I (527-565) emperor of...

Guardians of time Mallorca’s sundials

Mallorca has the most sundials per square kilometer in all of Spain. Mallorca boasts an abundance of sundials, many churches, monasteries, and estates still preserve them, the oldest date back to roman times and represent an important ethnographic heritage. Four...

Santa María de La Real Monastery

Access to the La Real monastery is through a door on the side of the church, there is a two-story cloister, with three point archways supported by spiral columns on the ground floor and fluted pillars on the top floor. La Real Monastery is three kilometres away from...

The Song of the Sibyl (Cant de la Sibil·la) lives on in Mallorca

The Song of the Sibyl is one of the most deeply rooted traditions in Mallorca, a medieval liturgical chant that has endured throughout the centuries, being one of the last manifestations of this tradition in the world. It is performed during Midnight Mass, on...

Palma’s beautiful Urban Parks

In the last twenty years, Palma de Mallorca has worked on new city parks and beautified or enlarged those that were already there. The Parc de la Riera is the biggest one and was opened in 2004.The Parc de la Mar boasts a salt water lake, reminding us of the time when...

Capdepera Castle

Capdepera Castle in Mallorca is a fortified structure that surrounded the primitive town of Capdepera, built on the Benifilia settlement. Its construction began with the walls and would have begun in around the year 1300. Its strategic position gave it control over...

Mallorca’s Crystal Church, Porciúncula

The Crystal church is a structure of dazzling beauty, built upon concrete and iron ribs that sustain 39 stained glass windows, providing the building with a mystical aura. The windows depict scenes of nature and the cosmos, characterising the Franciscan order,...

‘La Seu’, is a Catholic cathedral located in Palma, Mallorca

A Catholic Cathedral located in Palma de Mallorca. Popularly known as La Seu, construction began in 1229 and went on for three centuries. In 1931, the building was declared a Historical-Artistic Monument. It is the second highest Gothic cathedral in Europe. The...

Defla houses, a possession with history

A few kilometres away, leaving the town of Sineu, is the Delfa or Adelfa estate, surrounded by extensive farmland and a lush woodland, enclosed within an island made up of the Delfa Houses, a stately home dignifed from the outset by the white marble coat of arms of...

The Archaeological museum of Son Fornés

The Archaeological museum of Son Fornés is located 2.5 km northwest of the town centre of Montuïri, Mallorca, on the estate which bears the same name which is located 4km from the local road which leads to Pina. Currently, the surface demarcated by the visible...

Mallorca, cultural destination

Mallorca is so much more than just sun, sand and sea. Mallorca has a very wide and varied cultural offer. Those that love cultural heritage will enjoy the architectonic gems hidden in the centre of Palma, visiting these is like travelling back in time. Neither can...

Balearic Slingers and the sling

The slingshot has played a significant role in the history of the Balearic Islands. It would be impossible to delve into the history of the Balearic Islands without making reference to the Balearic slingers, for the very word, “Balearic”, means, literally, “Master of...