Once again, the history of these islands is pretty bloody. To the list of the usual suspects; Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, and Moslems, one can add Catalonians. With the “reconquest” by James I of Aragon in 1229, most traces of previous occupants were wiped out.
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| James I of Aragon |
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| Last remnant of the Moslem culture -the Arab Bathes |
Most of the folks who settled on Mallorca after 1229 were, like James, Catalonians. Consequently, Catalan remains the main language here and I use Catalan spelling for places. Oh – I asked about the alternate spelling, replacing "ll" with a "j" and was informed that “Majorca” is only used by English people. So there!
On the site of a mosque in the capital of Palma, James I initiated construction of what would become the Catedral de Santa María de Mallorca. Rather plain from the outside, we were stunned by the colors that filled the vast interior. With one of the tallest naves in the world (144 feet), I had trouble fitting all three levels of windows in a single photo.
The next king, James II was also a busy builder. In 1311 he initiated construction of the first circular castle in the world, Castell de Bellver on a hill overlooking Palma.
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| No - I didn't get a drone |
There's an interesting connection to the USA here. We learned that the 18th century Franciscan missionary, Junípero Serra is from Mallorca. For those of you who have not been to California, he is famous (or infamous) for founding a string of missions along the Pacific coast.
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| Junípero Serra at Franciscan Basilica |
We enjoyed Palma but were absolutely enchanted by the island once we got outside the city. Let's leave that story for another day.
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| View of Palma from the Castell de Bellver |
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