Mallorca

"Inca, a town with a court is, outside Palma, the most urban place on Mallorca. However, with 4,729 inhabitants, it occupies the fifth place on the island. It has 1,365 houses, 39 of which are empty. 421 have two stories, 70 have three, 7 have four, and the remaining houses have one. On Carrer de Palma we find the old Town Hall, a solid stone construction with eave and simple rafter. The city’s coat of arms is also above the half-point arch entranceway. Apparently, the first church in Inca was one of the mosques that was reconverted for Christian practice (the place already existed in times of the Conquest) and dedicated to the apostle, Bartholomew the Apostle.

The parish church has a simple facade, designed with little taste. It has a central rosette and  not very pretty portal over which we can read the date, 1843. Standing out on the right is an isolated eight-story tower, joined at the bottom to the church by means of a pointed arch. The top two stories have ogee windows overlooking the surroundings and is topped by a terrace at 151.36 m above sea level with a Baroque-style dome. Inside, the main nave has a dome supported by seven half-point arches and bordered by a robust cornice which, in turn, rests on seven Ionic columns made of smooth red marble extracted from Puig des Roure peak in Inca.

The sacristy preserves a very interesting painting of the Virgin over a purple background. The Mother of Christ is wearing a green tunic with gold trimming, and Christ, wearing red, is holding a ribbon bearing the inscription: “Ego sum tua”. Underneath the inscription, there are two coats of arms representing those of Inca. Over a red background, the following words stand out: “Joan darder me ha pintada l’any 1373” (Joan Darder painted me in the year 1373).

In addition to the parish church, Inca has two more, dedicated to Sant Domingo (Saint Dominic) and Sant Francesc (Saint Francis). The first one is in the small plaza of the same name. The Dominican monastery, like its church, was built in 1604 stemming from a vow Inca’s pious inhabitants made.

It has a simple facade with a Baroque portal, a central rosette and bell tower with two half-point arches up high to the left. The interior has a barrel vault ceiling held up by four arches resting on a cornice over the same number of pseudo-Ionic smooth columns. In addition to the chapel for the main altar, narrowing at the back, there are four more chapels on both sides, the first on the right occupied by a door.

Sant Francesc Church also rises up in the plaza of the same name. It’s dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, his statue presiding over the main altar. The church’s main facade is very simple, with an ogive doorway and beautiful Gothic rosette. The interior has a barrel vault ceiling supported on five arches and an equal number of columns with pseudo-rustic capitals, with windows opening in the wedge-shaped surface. There are six chapels on either side. They have half-point arches over smooth pilasters. One of those on the left is used as the side entrance and opens onto a road. Another on the right provides access to the monastery. Like the previous church, this one is also a support church for the parish church. The monastery building, with 17 monks suddenly giving up monastic live, was sold to private individuals.

Behind Inca, the so-called Serral de Ses Monges rises up. It’s where the Convent of Ses Monges de Sant Jeroni de Sant Bartomeu was found. It was established in 1534 by nuns from the Order of Saint Jerome who previously abandoned Puig de Santa Magdalena. The small church, dedicated to Barholomew the Apostle was once the parish church of Inca though later donated to said nuns. It has a barrel vault ceiling, a chapel for the main altar which widens in back and three chapels with segmental arches on each side. One of the chapels on the left has the relics of the venerated Sister Clara Andreu, from the Order of Saint Jerome, a woman of great diligence and industry, deceased on June 24^th, 1628, and whose remains have endured intact.

In a cool dining hall, the presence of numerous bowls made in Inca stands out, their decoration in dark green making them look like marble. To the side is a beautiful kitchen oriented towards the patio’s “porxada” (porch) with a cistern in the middle and a wash basin made of stone from Binissalem covered in shells. There is another “clastra” (cloister) with some figs and a very fine limestone niche with an image of the venerated sister. Over the door are numerous votive offerings, with another cistern on the side. A small room is attached where they make the dough for the “congrets” (a type of pastry) with the help of trowels moved regularly by a notched wheel.

Inca is a notable city for its hustle and bustle and vitality. The grape harvest also contributes to so much activity, as not little wine is produced in this area, and the town has numerous “cellers” (wineries), many of them still preserving their old “botes congrenyades” (barrels). In the mornings, the traffic in Plaça de l’Esglèsia is constant due to the fruit market held here. In addition, Inca hosts a cattle fair every Thursday, with all the farmworkers from the county bringing their animals. If that day is a holiday, the fair is held on Wednesday, as occurs on Holy Thursday. Nevertheless, two Thursdays do not hold this fair: the one before and after the annual market. The latter has five editions in Inca: on the last two Sundays in the month of October and on the first one in November, the first Thursday in the month of May, known as “dijous bo” (good Thursday), the second Thursday in the month of November, also known by the previous name.

One of the most interesting place worth visiting in Inca is Puig de Santa Magdalena, known colloquially as Puig d’Inca.

The church exterior is very simple. The main facade is smooth, with an ogive bell tower, a small rosette and half-point arch portal with columns and perimeter cornice. On both sides of the atrium, we can see the natural stones which, in some places, even substitute the polished stone from Trispol.

The beams with interlaced decorations in red, pink, white and green stand out for their beauty. The main altar chapel holds the statue of Saint Magdalene. There is another side altar and a third called Holy Christ behind a coarse gate. The convent building is attached to the church on the right side. The convent has a half-point arch doorway to which 16 steps lead. There is a beautiful panoramic view from here of the s’Albufera plain, Sa Pobla and Muro, Cap des Pinar and Cap de Ferrutx capes, Colls d’Artà, Puig de Bonany, Sant Salvador and Randa. Beyond the second Santa Magdalena peak, Puig de Son Blai, we can also see the plain that opens heading to the sea and the impressive series of the Serra range’s peaks serving as the backdrop for Inca.

The view of the north is particularly pretty: Selva, Mancor, Caimari, Moscari, Campanet, Búger, Sa Pobla and Pollença’s bay, with both Puig Major and the sheer summits of Alaró occupying the center of this panoramic view.

To continue on the road from Inca towards Alcúdia, we have to leave the current one and take Carrer de la Sirena.

Farther on, the terrain widens towards the south, allowing us to see Sa Pobla at the back of the uniform plain. The lush agaves lined along the ditches denote the southern character of the climate here, no less than the large almond and pomegranate trees and the opulent prickly pears which seem to have been placed in large numbers around Búger’s outlying houses. We enter this town by the so-called “Carrer de la Carretera” (“Road Street”). It has 692 inhabitants and 211 houses, 3 of which are deserted. 9 of them have two stories, while the rest have only one. In our climb we pass by a simple stone cross where the habitual stepped base has been replaced here by a smooth sphere serving as a type of pedestal. We find ourselves now in Plaça de la Constitució also known as Plaça Major. The ground is rocky and slightly sloped, like the rest of the streets in this town spotted with small houses and with the habitual trailing vine at most doors. On the back part of the town and the highest point, we find the Sant Pere Apòstol Church, enthroned at the top of some stairs. The church has a simple facade with a central rosette. Attached at the right is a square tower with ogee windows on each side and crowned by a pyramid-shaped crest with angular stones sticking out. It rises up to 128.84 m above sea level. The interior has a barrel vault ceiling supported on six half-point arches. The main altar chapel narrows at the back. There are four more chapels on each side and a gallery for the choir and organ above the main entrance. A second organ occupies the second chapel on the right, also used as a side entrance. Also on this side, in the first chapel, is a beautiful representation of Christ’s descent from the cross, featuring numerous figures over a dark background. Near the church, on the broad Carrer Major (Main Street), the presence of two new stone crosses on spherical bases stands out.

We leave a good path on the right towards Sa Pobla, crossing instead the dry and rocky bed of a stream born in the hills.

The terrain flattens notably, extending towards the south along the wide plain formed by the margins of Alcúdia Bay. The fields are abundantly watered thanks to the presence of numerous norias from which the ducts atop stakes spew overflowing water in various directions, provoking occasional waterfalls.

Leaving Albufera’s plain at our backs and retracing our steps towards the northeast, we quickly come to a very generous valley whose fertile ground gorges itself on fig trees and is spotted with small isolated houses with inclined roofs. The valley’s slope on the right consists of the Sant Martí chain’s peaks, separating the valley and, with it, the road, from Albufera’s estuaries. The chain’s slopes consist of grey limestone which blossoms like volcanic scoria amongst the innumerable fan palms. On the other side, there is an elongated slope moving towards the plain. At their base, some pine trees grow with advantage. We also discover in this land an old, adjacent tower with battlements. The left side of the valley forms an extensive slope with abundant bushes. At its feet is a small forest of pines next to another one in which some carob and fig trees are interspersed.

A bridge allows us to cross over Torrent de Sant Miquel, which is dry in summer. The path then continues wide and in good state under the shade of some wild olive trees or bordered by impenetrable masses of agaves on some stretches.

After crossing through abundant groves of fig trees, we enter Sa Pobla along Carrer del Cementeri. This town, though found in the middle of the plain, stands out for the height of its church and the row of windmills spread out on the terraces surrounding it. It has 3,453 inhabitants, that is, almost the entire population of the district which numbers 3,637. This is due to the unhealthy estuaries in the area, and explains the 36 isolated houses. By contrast, there are 1,332 houses in the town, of which 52 seem empty. 83 consist of two stories and the rest just one. The majority are small and yellowing grey in color and gloomy like almost all the houses on Mallorca’s plain. Some have a rectangular door, while others have a half-point arch. Carrer Ample and Carrer Major are the town’s most important streets. The second street crosses through the entire town, on the eastern end decorated with the presence of a majestic date palm. Almost in the center of the town, a small plaza goes by the name of Plaça de la Constitució in which we find the Town Hall, a somewhat more notable building than the others. The church is found on the western edge of the town, and its construction is relatively new. It has a simple stone facade divided into three sections by means of cornices. The lower section includes the portal, while the middle one has a rosette. On the left, a four-story square tower rises up, its upper two floors opened by means of two ogee windows on each side. The tower reaches up to 50.90 m above sea level. The Romanesque and Renaissance interior is not exempt of any beauty. The dome is held up by eight half-point arches between which ribs cross simply to end in smooth columns with Romanesque capitals, holding up, at the same time, a sizeable cornice. The church has a niche-shaped chapel for the main altar and a gallery with balustrade over two half-point arches above the main entrance. There are six more chapels on each side. One of them, the second on the left, is called the Capella de les Ànimes, and seems very old. It may be the remains of an older church. It contains old pious representations on wood. The third one is occupied by a side entrance. The one on the opposite side, called Roser, is very large and the only one that hasn’t been whitewashed. On the main altar are images of Saint Anthony the Abbot and Saint Margaret, the female patron saint of the town.

Muro is located on a hillock which overlooks the entire area with a broad panoramic view, the beautiful Serra range serving as the backdrop and surrounded by windmills. It has 3,174 inhabitants and 1,088 houses, 71 of which are deserted. As occurs in Sa Pola, almost all the houses are found in the town center; only 10 are outside. The houses are small. 315 consist of a single floor, while the rest have two. All of them have large doorways in half-point arches. Some have absolutely no windows, while others small little ones with sills. Many houses have been built with sandstone blocks. The streets are straight and unpaved.

The church has a beautiful rosette on the main facade, and its main portal is simple. The side entrance is more beautiful, presided over by the Virgin venerated by two angels and two saints, dating from 1778. The nine buttresses on each side are joined in the middle by half-point arches. The elevated tower is square and seven-stories tall. The top two floors have ogee windows on each side. From the terrace you can reach a small tower whose crest rises up to 117 meters above sea level. The church’s corners are shaped like turrets. A small arch joins the tower with one of the church’s eight octagonal little towers flanking the main facade. The interior consists of a Gothic nave held up by seven arches, with a gallery over the main entrance, ribs crossing simply and a coat of arms in the keystone. Nine ribs emerge from the choir’s keystone to rest on stylized columns crowned by their respective pseudo-Ionic capitals. In the space between the arches is an ogee window, today closed up. The church has six chapels on both sides and one under the choir. The third one on the left is very large. The one on the opposite side is occupied by one of the entrances into the church."

Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria. Las Baleares por la palabra y el grabado. Majorca: The island. Ed. Sa Nostra, Caja de Baleares. Palma de Mallorca. 1982.