Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(La Seu;
www.catedraldemallorca.org
;
Carrer del Palau Reial 9; adult/child €6/free;
10am-6.15pm Mon-Fri, to 2.15pm Sat)
Palma's vast cathedral is the city's major architectural
landmark. Aside from its sheer scale and undoubted beauty, its stunning interior features,
designed by Antoni Gaudí and renowned contemporary artist Miquel Barceló, make this
unlike any cathedral elsewhere in the world. The awesome structure is predominantly
Gothic, apart from the main facade, which is startling, quite beautiful and completely
mongrel.
The Catedral occupies the site of what was the central mosque of Medina Mayurka,
capital of Muslim Mallorca for three centuries. Although Jaume I and his marauding men
forced their way into the city in 1229, work on the Catedral (La Seu in Catalan), one of
Europe's largest, did not begin until 1300. Rather, the mosque was used in the interim as
a church and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Work wasn't completed until 1601.
The original was a Renaissance cherry on the Gothic cake, but an earthquake in 1851
(which caused considerable panic but no loss of life) severely damaged it. Rather than
mend the original, it was decided to add some neo-Gothic flavour. With its interlaced fly-
ing buttresses on each flank and soaring pinnacles it forms a masterful example of the
style. The result is a hybrid of the Renaissance original (in particular the main doorway)
and an inevitably artificial -feeling, 19th-century pseudo-Gothic monumentalism.
Mass times vary, but one always takes place at 9am.
Palau de l'Almudaina
PALACE
(Carrer del Palau Reial; adult/child €9/4, audioguides €4, guided tours €6; 10am-8pm Apr-Sep,
to 6pm Oct-Mar)
Originally an Islamic fort, this mighty construction opposite the Catedral
was converted into a residence for the Mallorquin monarchs at the end of the 13th cen-
tury. The King of Spain resides here still, at least symbolically. The royal family are
rarely in residence, except for the occasional ceremony, as they prefer to spend summer
in the Palau Marivent (in Cala Major). At other times you can wander through a series of
cavernous stone-walled rooms that have been lavishly decorated.
The Romans are said to have built a
castrum
(fort) here, possibly on the site of a pre-
historic settlement. The Wālis (governors) of Muslim Mallorca altered and expanded the
Roman fort, while Jaume I and his successors modified it to such an extent that little of
the Muslim version remains.
The first narrow room you enter has a black-and-white ceiling, symbolising the ex-
tremes of night and day, darkness and light. You then enter a series of three grand rooms.
Notice the bricked-in Gothic arches cut off in the middle. Originally these three rooms
were double their present height and formed one single great hall added to the original