Around Palma
"We begin our visit with the Arraval de Santa Catalina, an outlying neighborhood with 6,000 inhabitants. Before entering it we find the Rivera, next to the “murada” wall and “moll” dock. It’s a torrent which begins in Puig de Galatzó peak, crosses Puigpunyent Valley and, after 21 kilometers, empties into the sea here.
The street which descends down from Porta de Santa Catalina Gateway also ends here, offering a pretty view of the Arraval with the Na Burguesa range as the background, the cliffs topped by the windmills of Molinar de Ponent and Bellver Castle in the distance. These two join a longer and broader street, the main road in Arraval de Santa Catalina which is the beginning of the road to Andratx. This road has been dropped somewhat and, consequently, various homes have three or four steps up to their doors.
On this street, towards the middle on the right is Sant Magí Church which, according to an old document, was dedicated to Nuestra Señora de los Huérfanos (Our Lady of Orphans) because it belonged to an asylum for poor children built next to it. Do its ogee style, we can conjecture that it was built in the 15th century. The existing Sant Magí Chapel and the demolishment of the asylum led to the church’s change in name. The side facade onto the street is whitewashed and, if it weren’t for an arch holding the bell, no one would know it’s a church. It has a simple portal, and its interior includes a flat ceiling held up on diminished arches. To the left is a chapel which looks like a second church, with two half-point arches, embedded pillars and a cornice all around. On the main alter is a carved wooden image of Saint Maginus and, in the back, a representation of the primary events in the life of the sainted hermit.
On the side towards the sea is the “Molinar de Ponent” (west mill farm). From the cliffs above the mills, to which you can climb via a paved hill, is a beautiful view of the port and the Rivera’s muddy mouth. Near the Rivera bridge is the “lavadero”, the second dock with its warehouses and shipyards, houses on the dock and the faraway coast of Cape Blanc. To the left, we see the Cathedral, the Llonja, and Puig de Sant Pere with Santa Creu’s bell tower in front. After the mills is a plaza where the fishermen fix their nets and one-story buildings with numerous doors which, in summer, have net curtains to keep out the very abundant number of flies. Under the cliffs which are partially covered by prickly pear leaves, the sickle-shaped shore consists of detritus. In summer, the fisherman who anchor their “llaüts” there dry their nets. In winter, this isn’t possible because the shore is exposed to the wind from the south. As background to this landscape are the soft hills of Son Armadans, Son Dureta and Teulera.
On the skirts of that little, perpetually green mount, covered in pines, are the stacked up houses of El Terreno, separated from each other by high walls. Seen from the sea, the El Terreno estate with its small houses painted white, yellow and blue seems like a small city.
The preference amongst Palma’s inhabitants for this area is due to the current of fresh air which, especially in summer, blows a cooling breeze and due to the delicious view from their houses over the bay and port. El Terreno, however, also has its disadvantages: a lot of dust in summer, a lack of water and some surroundings consisting of bare rocks. A casino with beautiful halls was recently built. You can only enter if presented by a member. The aim is to thus introduce summer residents to life in society.
The best situated house in El Terreno is still the best of all, the old house with the same name belonging to the Rubert family. It’s situated at one end of the estate and, with its gardens, it occupies a point over the sea. Great care has been taken in closing off this beautiful corner, so much so that you would think you are in a Turkish residence. In front of the house is a vault serving as entrance. Upon passing through, you come to an inner patio with two doors leading to an invisible interior. The house is square with a small tower in the middle and a very simple exterior.
Portopí is a fairly deep and bare inlet, in part made of reddish stones and closed off by two towers. The one on the right, situated to the north, is called the Torre de Peraires, while the one on the left, on the southern side, is called the Torre de Senyals. In medieval times, a chain was connected between both towers to keep boats from entering and leaving at night. Torre de Peraires is a tall tower with a square base and machicolations. At first sight, it seems like a very old construction, though the exact date it was built is unknown. The name “Torre d’En Carrós” with which it has also been known since remote times is due, according to some historians, that it belonged to Count Carrós, one of the Conqueror’s captains and, apparently, Balasc d’Alagó, Count Carrós, who governed Mallorca from 1244 to 1254.
No one knows for certain when Torre de Portopí or “de Senyals”, as it is popularly known, was built. It’s a square building crowned by a gallery of battlements which may have existed in the times of the Moors. If it was built after the conquest, it also served as a lighthouse. It is 8 feet tall and covered by a lead-lined wooden dome. The fifth-order lighting apparatus consist of three lamps with an old reflecting system based on three mirrors. Via a mechanism consisting of three wheels and a pendulum, the apparatus turns. The lamps are situated in such a way that their horizontal projection forms an equilateral triangle. The white light with 3 flashes every three minutes is visible for 8 miles.
A bit behind Torre de Peraires is a large building alongside the old Sant Nicolau Church. They’re the remains of a small fort which was no longer used after San Carlos was built. The building suffered numerous reforms, and one part was destined for the church dedicated to Saint Nicholas and to provide masses for the sailors and fishermen anchoring their boats in Portopí.
On the point following Portopí is San Carlos Castle. With the aim of protecting Palma, a fort was projected in 1600 between Portopí and Cala Major. However, not until 1608 did Felipe III order the castle be built, ordering that half or two-thirds of its cost be paid by the Palma Traders’ Guild while funds would be raised for the rest. Construction began in 1610 and finished in 1612, costing 12,000 Mallorcan pounds (approximately 40,000 francs).
Bellver Castle, which can be seen from Palma, is two miles to the east of the city on the peak of a hill, 140 meters above sea level and 2 kilometers from the shore. It’s still in its primitive state and is one of the best preserved 13th century military constructions in existence. Old documents refer to the castle as “Pulchro Viso”, literally “Pretty View”, translating the Mallorcan word, “Bellver”. It was built under the order of Jaume II by the Mallorcan architect, Pere Salvà, the palace stonecutter, in 1309. However, some data allows us to suppose that work continued still in 1332, during the reign of Jaume III.
Bellver is a fairly large, circular building, built of excellent sandstone from nearby quarries. The building is surrounded by a moat and has an upper platform, an intermediate one and a circular patio. Towards the north, a tall circular tower majestically rises up 45 feet. The tower can be reached by crossing a bridge supported on a tall ogee arch. Towards the other three cardinal points are three other towers with angled shapes. On the inside are large watchtowers and small machicolations on the outside. These three towers have the same diameter and height to the level of the platform where they begin to sharpen, forming a truncated cone whose apex rests on four embedded columns which come out of the wall and lose themselves in the wide scarp. The latter is as tall as the moat and surrounds the entire castle and its towers, forming a 45° angle with respect to the wall. The moat is very wide and deep and also circles around the castle. It only widens in spots to surround the main tower and the smaller ones. The patio has two floors, both with archways consisting of 21 square, short pillars forming a portico. On the lower floor, the arches are rounded and wide, but those on the top are pointed with a central column dividing them into two pointed arches between them. In the center of the patio is the parapet of a large cistern. In this portico, where a staircase climbs up to the top floors, are the doors to the castle’s inner rooms.
The building is circular, as mentioned, and includes other Gothic rooms with arches, with the ribs crossing in a simple fashion. From any of these rooms is a marvelous view over the bay or the mountain range. In one of these, a throne was raised when Queen Isabel II visited the castle. The kitchen is enormous, and contemplating its primitive chimney hood is well worth it. The castle’s San Marc Chapel belongs administratively to the Santa Creu parish and is from the same date as the castle, that is, from the turn between the 13th and 14th centuries. The space consists of five arches, and nothing distinguishes it from the other rooms, excepting perhaps the beautiful wood gate and the tiles in the presbyter built on a platform above the rest of the floor.
A staircase leads to the castle’s platform. With reason it’s called “Bellver”, because everything you can see from above is extremely beautiful. Towards the south, we can see the blue, limitless sea, scored by white sails. To the rights are the hills and mounts of Na Burguesa and Bendinat Palace. To the east is the immense plain in which table-shaped Puig de Randa’s peak emerges. To the northwest is the “serra”, the steep and serious mountain range. Crossing the narrow bridge, you enter Homenatge Tower through a small door and climb up via a spiral staircase. The inside of the tower is divided into four rooms, all with a pointed, conical ceiling. Two of them are under the bridge, while the other two are above it.
Molinar de Llevant (east mill farm), in certain respects, corresponds with Molinar de Ponent and Santa Catalina, as the latter has a small neighborhood grouped around the shore of a not-very deep port with its single-story houses built on the points closing off the port. Many of these homes are only occupied in summer, and, as such, Molinar is the El Terreno of more humble social classes. There are also many, very busy inns and taverns and a small church built with money collected from vacationers from Palma."
Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria. Las Baleares por la palabra y el grabado. Majorca: City of Palma. Ed. Sa Nostra, Caja de Baleares. Palma de Mallorca. 1982.
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