Mallorca

"Petra has 2,104 inhabitants and 703 houses, 48 of which are abandoned. 6 consist of two stories and the rest just one. They are all small and grey, with a half-point portal and in front of which is a type of sidewalk where the ground has been firmed up with gravel. There’s a small plaza with a long trough for animals. Petra’s church is one of the oldest on Mallorca and listed as Sant Pere de Petra in the papal bull issued by Innocence IV in 1248. It’s reinforced on each side by eight buttresses joined together by covered arches. Also, on either side of the main facade, divided into five stories, are octagonal towers with windows up high. The one on the left hasn’t been expanded. The church has an unfinished ogive portal, above which is an enormous, though not very pretty rosette which cuts the cornice separating the third and fourth stories. Attached to the back part of the choir is a six-sided tower, its top two floors open with a small ogive window on the narrow side and two on the wider side. The interior, made completely of stone, is beautiful. It consists of a single Gothic style nave, The ceiling is supported on seven ogive arches with wide ribbing such as that on the ribs which cross simply above.

The gallery above the main entrance has a segmental arch and ceiling with simple crossing ribs. On either side of the main nave are seven chapels, one of them interrupted precisely by the presence of this gallery. Another one, the oldest of all and found on the left, is dedicated to the Birth of the Virgin Mary. Another one on the same side holds the baptismal font. Equally old is the first one on the right, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian. The fourth on the left is spacious with a dome above. The one on the opposite side is occupied by a portal and the organ. All of them, without exception, have Baroque altars.

Sineu has 2,803 inhabitants and 854 houses, 31 of which are abandoned. 114 have two stories and the rest just one. All of them have a half-point arch portal and small windows with sills. Carrer Major crosses the entire town, and the part of Sineu separated by the valley is known as Son Ramis. The parish church, Ángeles, is one of the oldest on Mallorca and found on the small and irregularly shaped Plaça de la Constitució. It has a beautiful portal and side buttresses joined together by arches. On the right, a robust tower rises up, with two rows of ogive windows, a pyramid-shaped crest and terrace, reaching 175.25 m above sea level. The inside consists of a single nave supported on 14 columns with ogive arches and ribs crossing simply up above. An image of Our Lady of Angels presides over the main altar, dating from the 16^th century. At the back of the two wings of the transept are Gothic altars. The church has five side chapels. The first one on the right is used as a side entrance. The choir is above the pyramid-shaped chapel.

But Sineu has more churches. The most interesting one belongs to the convent once found outside the old Mallorcan kings’ castle and today partly preserved. Sineu, once known as Sixneu, was one of the six towns existing upon Jaume I’s arrival though existing from the time of the Romans. It gained the favor of Mallorca’s kings due to its central location and good climate, the reason why they had the castle built where especially Jaume II and Sanç liked to come for long periods.

King Felipe II gave the castle to the Franciscan nuns on July 2^nd, 1579, for them to establish a new convent there for their order. The church was inaugurated apparently on January 6^th, 1583. This convent still exists today by the name of Inmaculada Concepción de María Santísima, though, in memory of the original building, it is still called “Del Palau” (belonging to the palace) amongst the locals. The interior consists of four transept ceilings and a barrel vault above the main altar chapel. To the left is a chapel opening in a segmental arch. Inside, it features interlaced arches and pilasters. The one on the right has a half-point arch and altar decorated with some not at all poor paintings representing Saints Roch and John. There are two more chapels farther in on the sides. The main altar is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. The convent building has five buttresses towards the facade.

Then comes the chapter house with benches all around and a staircase leading to the “hort” (garden). The main staircase climbs to the next floor in seven stretches with Renaissance wood balustrade. The building encircles a cloister. The novitiate building is attached to the latter, with beautiful views over the plain and a beautiful pine tree up high. A corridor with windows leads towards the choir with a modest ceiling, single window and Renaissance lectern.

Worth noting is how grains are measured to this day in Sineu, Mallorca’s most important cereal growing region, represented by the ancient “barcella” which is still preserved. The latter has the coat of arms of Aragón on one side and Sineu’s on the other and the inscription “Barcela de Sineu” near the top. Sineu is one of the island’s most important areas due to its agricultural production, holding a weekly market every Wednesday and two annual ones on the first Sunday of May and the third Sunday of August, respectively.

The most beautiful house and certainly worth visiting in Sineu is the Delfa house, found very close to the town and belonging to the Count of España.

The house has a front patio closed off on three sides, with a large hackberry in the center and a frontal wall to close it off. Behind it is a larger half-point portal, bearing the House of Rossinyol coat of arms and crowned by pyramid-shaped battlements. To the right is the lords’ home and another half-point arch with five steps leading to the renter’s house. The terrace tower near the main door has three battlements on the short side and five on the long one, not including the four used to close off the corners.

The view from here is beautiful, encompassing Santa Margarida’s Delfa, the sea, Ariany’s small group of houses, the peaks of Sant Onofre and Bonany and the windmills of Petra and Sant Joan, along with the nearby Puig den Ganovart covered in pine trees. On the other side, we can see Sineu’s mills, the tall slopes of Puig de Galatzó until Puig Tomir, the latter rising above the rolling plain dedicated to growing grapes, the mount on the opposite side, Puig d’Inca, up until the vast Holm oak grove located behind the house.

On the northern end of Sineu, on Joan Sbert’s property, we find two cairns, one of fairly large proportions and the other a bit smaller. A bit farther away, to the right of the path to Llubí on property belonging to Miquel Alomar, a local farmer, we find a third cairn. Like the first two, the latter is covered in mastics, myrtle and wild olive trees. In a ditch near the first two, numerous bone fragments have been found. The best preserved cairn has an opening on the front. A few steps farther is another one, in part attached to the wall of the road and also covered by wild olive trees and prickly pears. To the right of the path, next to the small house belonging to Miquel Ramis, alias Roig, are two more cairns, though both in a very ruinous state.

We cross another path, leave another to the right and, at the end of a stretch in better condition, we can see the small town of Sant Joan sticking out between two peaks, one crowned by windmills. In olden times, the town was known as Alahmar and it very closely resembles Sineu today. It has 1,532 inhabitants and 491 houses, 61 of which are abandoned. 26 have two stories, and the rest just one. They are all grey in color, with a half-point arched portal and cornice at the window. The houses are aligned along narrow little streets. The church is one of the island’s oldest buildings.

The church is dedicated to John the Baptist and has a simple facade with a round rosette and a decorated tower to the right of the portal. The tower was added later and rises at its crest up to 175.78 m above sea level. The side entrance culminates in a high arch held up by a winged lion and the Evangelists’ eagle. Four steps lead up to it, preceded by a hackberry. The interior consists of a single nave with a barrel vault ceiling and where we can read the dates, 1768 and 1788. It has seven low, channeled side pilasters. The main altar chapel narrows at the back. The ceiling sits on wedge-shaped panels atop triglyph capitals. The choir gallery found above the main entrance has simple ribs crossing up high. There are five chapels on both sides, all with Baroque altars except the second one on the left used as a side entrance and the fourth on the right in the shape of a small rotunda. There are two more chapels under the choir. The one to the right of the entrance is occupied by the baptismal font. The sacristy has a Gothic ceiling.

To the north of Sant Joan, another peak stands out, crowned by a small church. The peak is known as Puig de Sant Onofre or Puig de La Bastida, offering a wide panoramic view of Sineu and Llorito. To get there we have to head to La Bastida, crossing the plain covered in grapevines and fig trees. There’s a chapel in La Bastida with a Gothic segmental arch where there was once an altar. Today, a bread bakery is attached to the church, a Gothic door in a rectangular frame serving as its entrance.

The path climbs winding up to the peak which falls in steep cliffs on the northern side. Here we come to a walled entrance, the remains of a building and with a small chapel beautifully restored by Ramírez, its current owner. Its segmental arch portal stands out, while the back rests on very old foundations. The minute church houses a clay statue, numerous votive offerings, rosaries, clothing and an old wood carving of Christ. A cistern is behind the church and, beyond that, a small rectangular trough. On the tallest summit in these surroundings is a geodesic marker indicating that the spot rises up to 225.47 m above sea level. It offers a splendid view of the Serra range, Alcúdia Bay, Mallorca’s calm plain dotted with small towns, the peaks of Randa, Bonany and Sant Salvador in the distance and the slope rising up on the side of Artá. Closer by are Sineu, Llorito, Petra, Ariany and María, the vineyards and the nearby tilled fields.

For a moment, we abandon the stretch of road from Montuïri to Algaida. From the latter is a path to Sineu after passing through Pina and Llorito.

Crossing a humdrum valley, we reach a town called Pina with its white church. It has 480 inhabitants and 95 houses, 14 of which are uninhabited. The Our Lady of Health Church and the Saints Cosmas and Damian probably date from the past century as indicated by the date, 1717, on the ceiling closest to the presbyter.

The church has two front towers, though only the one on the right is complete and topped by a crest rising up to 181.29 m above sea level. The interior is shaped like a cross, with a central dome, a main altar accessed by side steps, two chapels on each side and a choir above the main entrance.

The houses in Llorito are uniform. There are 243 in number, 21 of which are abandoned. 63 only have one story, and the rest two. They have a half-point arch portal, small windows with sills and pitched roofs. A row climbing up a slight hill offers a picturesque succession of stepped roofs. A haughty and solitary palm tree raises its crown above the houses. The small town of Llorito was once called Manresa, perhaps due to the origin of its first settlers. When the Franciscans founded their monastery, Our Lady of Loreto, in 1543, the name was eventually corrupted into “Llorito”, the name eventually applied to the entire town.

The exterior of Llorito’s church is very similar to that in Pina, though the tower on the left is missing. It has a terrace up top with a Baroque crest which rises up to 197.87 m above sea level. Its interior consists of a single nave with a barrel vault ceiling, four chapels on both sides and a choir above the main entrance. The altars are Baroque, and on the main altar is the golden image of Nuestra Señora de Loreto.

We’ll now discuss some towns in the interior of the angle formed by both roads, mostly in the part leading to Inca.

The church and few houses of Santa Eugènia are found at the end of a slope. Other houses are farther away, separated from the first group by a plantation of almond trees on a rocky and white mount crowned by windmills. Exuberant fig trees, their branches supported on thick stakes, and small houses surrounded by prickly pears represent the first part of the town upon traversing it along Carrer Major. It has 163 houses, 10 of which are abandoned. The majority have a half-point arch, though some entrances are rectangular. Excepting 3 houses with two stories, the rest only have one. The church is small, with a tower crowned by a dome and a balcony, rising up to 165.01 m above sea level. It has an ancient portal and small rosette; the rest is new. The transept arms house both chapels; in the back is the main altar. The chapel on the right holds relics belonging to Saint Pious. On the sides, longitudinally, there are four chapels, one of which, the one on the left, is occupied by the entrance reserved for men.

We reach the Biniagual group of houses, a farmstead dependent on the town of Binissalem. They are simple buildings, the majority with small, rectangular doors and windows. The modest church was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary and was completed on December 27^th, 1741. It has a bell tower, a main altar chapel and two more chapels on either side.

Sencelles is located at the top of some low hills in a rolling terrain, preceded by windmills and prickly pears. The town has 1,812 inhabitants and 622 houses, 36 of which are abandoned. They are small. 45 have two stories, and the rest just one. The majority have a half-point arch portal and window with sill on unpaved streets. The parish church is found in the Plaça de la Constitució which also features a cross atop a stepped pedestal. The church has a large Baroque portal and, to the left, an attached, seven-story bell tower, the last two of which are open with two ogive windows on each side. It also has a Baroque crest rising up to 152.62 m above sea level. Some steps take us from the plaza to a Gothic side entrance. The middle part is Renaissance in style. The interior consists of a barrel vault ceiling held up by five half-point arches and smooth columns, with a double cornice up high. There are six, half-point chapels on each side, while the main altar chapel narrows at the back. The third chapel on the left is occupied by a side entrance, while the main entrance has a gallery for the choir above it, the ribs crossing simply up above and a pointed arch separating it from the nave. The altars are Baroque, and the church has no lighting other than the natural light provided by a window in the main altar chapel and another one in the choir.

A turn to our right leads us to Biniali, a small town with 519 inhabitants and 138 houses that have not been whitewashed. They have a half-point arch portal (1 house has 3 stories, ten have just one, and the rest two). The town also has a small and new church dedicated to Saint Christopher in the plaza of the same name. It has a portal with tympanum and, on the right of the facade, a rectangular tower with a pyramid-shaped crest rising up to 128.01 m above sea level. Presiding over the altar is an image of Saint Christopher. Other than that, the church has an arch above the main entrance and seven side chapels, adding up all of them on both sides. The prettiest of these is the one dedicated to the souls in Purgatory.

Costitx has 785 inhabitants and 334 one-story houses, 44 of which are uninhabited. The town is found on a slight elevation. We reach the town along Carrer Major and soon come past a wooden cross on top of a round pillar. Rectangular doors abound, thought a few are arched. Nor is it rare to see some houses whitewashed in coarse mortar and decorated with incisions on the front. The overhanging roof tiles on one of the houses are decorated with floral motifs. In the Plaça Major, where we see a broken stone cross, is the church dedicated to Our Lady of Costitx. The church’s exterior is simple, and the two-story tower with ogive windows to the left rear has a pointed crest rising up to 161.28 m above sea level. The interior is equally modest, with a choir above the main entrance and four side chapels, each with their own Baroque altar. The sacristy is closed up top by a ceiling with intertwining ribs. Near Carrer del Padró, which starts at this very church, is a beautiful view of the entire plain.

To the left a certain distance away is Jornets, a village dependent on Costitx and 2.7 km away. It has 197 inhabitants and 49 houses, 5 of which are abandoned. One has three stories, 5 just one, and the rest two. It also has a public church dedicated to Saint Joseph and constructed at the end of last century.

We leave a path on the right and, passing by a stone cross on a conical base and surrounded later by prickly pears, we make our way into the town of Llubí along Carrer de Sant Feliu street. There is a horseshoe-shaped tower here, probably the remains of an old fortress and at the foot of an old round windmill. Llubí has 1,676 inhabitants and 511 houses, 18 of which are abandoned. 18 consist of two stories, and the rest just one. They are all modest, with a half-point arch window and small windows with sills. In the small Plaça de la Constitució, the new two-story building attached to the church stands out.

The church has a five-story bell tower with an ogive window on the top floor. There is also a rosette above the modest portal. Its interior consists of a barrel vault ceiling with a simple main altar chapel narrowing at the back and presided over by Saint Felix. It has four chapels on each side, the choir above the main entrance with two chapels on either side of the latter. The choir is accessed from the left."

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.