La Trapa Nature Reserve is an estate located in the southwest corner of the Tramuntana mountain range. It is named after the presence of the Trappist monks, who settled in the valley around 1810. During their stay, they built a monastery, created a system of water supply through water collection mines and built terraces and walls, following the traditional dry stone technique. In La Trapa you can find elements of traditional architecture such as the houses of the old monastery and the remains of a chapel, the mill, the threshing floor... But, of obliged visit is the viewpoint, an exceptional balcony overlooking the island Dragonera, which looks like a dragon coming out of the sea.

The Convent of Santa Clara is located in the parish of Santa Eulàlia, between the Almudaina and Calatrava districts. When founded this convent already had a markedly urban character, and it took part in the organisation of the district. It was created in the times of Jaume I, the first stone being laid in the year 1256, and is one of the oldest female religious foundations in Palma, along with the convents of Santa Margalida and Santa Magdalena. Its architectural layout was practically defined in the 14th and 15th centuries, in spite of the fact that its interior was still under construction. The essential elements for a monastic community were built: a cloister, chapterhouse, refectory, dormitory, kitchen... In short, these elements have been maintained with few modifications, and the more modern interventions have not altered the original structure entirely. The original church building was replaced by the current, Baroque work. The Convent of Santa Clara contains a large part of the history of Mallorcan medieval art. The quality and number of specimens it houses enables one to follow the evolutionary process of Gothic painting, from the earliest Italianizing influences to the later works which, in the early 15th century, made the island’s Gothic painting a continuation of the Valencian art of the period.

The origins of the monastery of Augustinian canonesses of Santa María Magdalena lie in the hospital we already hear news of in the early 14th century. The incorporation of the nuns was the work of King Pere the Ceremonious, who convened the transfer to Mallorca of some nuns from the convent in Barcelona. The surviving documents offer little information on life in the convent of old or the Gothic construction of the church. The surviving medieval heritage consists of three singular manifestations of Gothic art, evidence of the growth of the community in the second half of the 14th century. The oldest, most important work is the altarpiece dedicated to Santa Magdalena, which must have presided over the Gothic church: the central table, with an external figure of the saint, is the work of Francesc Comes; the side tables are attributable to the so-called Master of Bishop Galiana, and the central pinnacle is considered to be the work of Joan Daurer, all of them great 14th century Mallorcan Gothic painters. The monumental table of Santa Helena, attributed to Rafel Mòger is also of interest. And a third work is the small altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Saint Michael and Saint John the Baptist, the work of Joan Rosado or Rosetó. All these paintings are in the Chapterhouse Room of the monastery, and the artists responsible for them are some of the most reputed Mallorcan Gothic painters. With the presence in the 16th century of the nun Catalina Tomàs, who later became a saint, a new era of splendour commenced in the monastery, under the patronage of Cardinal Despuig.

The Crypt of Sant Llorenç serves as a base for apse of the church of Santa Cruz, a peculiarity that is unique in Mallorca. Different hypotheses have been put forward by researchers regarding the date of its construction, but most agree on consolidating the work at the beginning of the 14th century. Details reminiscent of the Poblet library have been seen on its pillars, and some of the technical solutions used link it to the creators of Bellver Castle. The layout of the space is strange: it seems like an unfinished work, the result either of the topography of the terrain or a lack of economic support. In the centre of the crypt there are four pillars that delimit a series of spaces with different shapes. The central space, which is square, would be the chevet of the church; around it some trapezoidal and triangular segments define a rectangular sector that opens up onto the entrance atrium with a Gothic doorway, simple but bearing a fabulous representation of medieval leaves. The remaining spaces form an ambulatory providing access to four square-based chapels located between the buttresses that act as a foundation for the apse of the church above. This peculiar organisation imposed the layout of the apse area on the builders of the parish church, a simple transposition of the structure of the crypt.

The Betlem hermitage was built over the ruins of a former Muslim farmstead, Binialgorfa. Between 1302 and 1344 this estate was under the domination of the Devesa (pastureland) of Ferrutx, important hunting grounds for the kings of Mallorca. Once the pastureland ceased to serve its original purpose, Jaume Ferrer purchased Binialgorfa. In 1409, Joan Morei purchased it from the heirs of the Ferrer family. Olive oil production and apiculture were its main activities. Over time, the possession was abandoned. In 1805 this spot, known for years by the telling name of the Binialgorfa desert, was occupied by five hermits from Sant Honorat in Randa and La Trinitat in Valldemossa. They were able to found the hermitage thanks to the donation of two quarterades (and old land measurement on Mallorca) and the remains of the homes built by Jaume Morei Andreu de Sant Martí, the owner of the possession. The first hermits found little more than the remains of an ancient defence tower and the oil mill. But construction soon got underway on the ruins, and the hermits’ cells were built, while the ancient tower was refurbished as a chapel. The sponsors of these projects were Cardinal Despuig and Canon Joan Dameto. The name of Betlem (Bethlehem) comes from a petition from the donor: that the new hermitage be devoted to the mystery of Christ’s birth. Currently, the hermitage measures 60 quarterades (around 426,18 km2), and hermits who are members of the Congregation of Saint Paul and Saint Anthony still live there.

This is the second most important parish church in the city in ecclesiastical terms, and the largest after Santa Eulàlia. It was located close to the Santa Catalina gateway, the former Bab al-yadid of the Islamic city. It was a hive of human activity, one of the most direct accesses to the sea, and this determined the presence of fishermen and sailors amongst its parishioners. In front of the church there was a fountain and a square with archways where the curia of the Bishop of Barcelona was established. The parish church is a late Gothic building. It stands out from other single-nave Gothic churches – the model followed by the Mallorcan churches – for its width. The parishioners under the protection of Santa Cruz included the notable presence of the powerful wool carders’ guild, which was founded in the 14th century. Of the artistic heritage in this church we should mention the table of Nostra Dona de la Pau, one of the oldest works the church contains; the table of Sant Cristòfol – the work of Francesc Comes, well-defined in stylistic terms – and the image of Nostra Dona del Bon Camí, now inserted into a Neo-Gothic table, attributed to Rafel Mòger. Inside the church there was a collection of old tombstones, and after being recovered they were displayed on the outer walls of the building, on the side where the steps leading down to the Sant Llorenç crypt are. One famous member of this parish was Captain Barceló, or ‘Capità Toni’ (1716 - 1797), a sailor who was very popular in Mallorca because he fought against pirates and corsairs.

This is one of the last Gothic churches to be built in Ciutat de Mallorca (Palma), constructed in the late 15th century. It served the General Hospital, and today we know it as the church of the Anunciación or ‘de la Sang’ – a popular name denoting the devotion to the ‘Santo Cristo de la Sangre’ image inside it. The master builder who directed construction on the church was Amador, a famous stonemason who belonged to the Creix family. It is a spacious building with a single nave, very broad, and chapels between buttresses with ribbed vaulting. On the keystones one can see the arms of the city and the hospital itself, as well as those of the Pacs de Cunilleres family and the Tomàs family, important patrons of the building work. Of its medieval past it still retains the Davallament triptych, an early 16th-century work attributed to Joan Desí, and two tables of Saint Peter and Saint Antony, attributable to Gabriel Mòger senior. Also on display are the carvings of a 15th-century nativity scene of Italian origin, from the convent of Jesus, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest and considered to be the oldest in Spain. One can also see two magnificent marble Italian sculptures here. The most famous and popular chapel is that of the ‘Cristo de la Sang’, constituted in 1552 by the Sangre brotherhood. This is where the tabernacle and sculpture of the ‘Cristo de la Sang’ are, the latter in cork oak, lighter than others so that the image can be taken out in processions.

Its tight proportions make Sant Jaume a space of great simplicity and beauty. A 14th-century building, it has six vaulted sections with rectangular-based side chapels that provide access to the polygonal presbytery floor, finished by four absidioles with a quadrangular layout that are not always symmetrical. The building has undergone no subsequent modifications, and the keystones still have the coats of arms of the benefactors who propitiated its construction. In this regard, the church is a veritable heraldic display case. Most of its altarpieces are modern, and the artistic remains from the medieval period include a fragment of a table representing the patron saint during worship and pilgrimage, attributed to the painter Francesc Comes. There was also a notable 16th-century sculpture representing the Crucified Christ, from the Sant Sepulcre oratory (today the Diocesan Museum). The main doorway is later than the rest of the church, dating from 1776, and in stylistic terms belongs to the late Baroque period. The bell tower rises up on the left side of the façade and has a quadrangular base. The chapels are Gothic, except for the Sagrario, which is 17th-century Baroque and presided over by an altarpiece dedicated to Sant Gaietà (St. Cajetan); it also contains the Cotoner family sepulchre, where the hearts of Rafel and Nicolau Cotoner, grand masters of the Order of Malta, are kept. The third chapel on the right, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, is noteworthy, and contains a classicist image from 1813.

The knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem or Knights Hospitaller did not take part in the conquest of Mallorca in 1229, but they were awarded properties in the low part of the town, in the area around what would be La Lonja de los Mercaderes centuries later. The built the curia of the order and a church dedicated to Saint John. The church of Sant Joan de la Mar – now Sant Joan de Malta – is the result of numerous restructuring interventions that wiped out every trace of the original construction. The only medieval vestige that remains is the figure of the patron saint, a beautiful Gothic sculpture that was displayed in the tympanum of the main portal and which was moved inside the church because it began to deteriorate rapidly. The present church, classicist Baroque in style with scant ornamentation, is small in size. Above the doorway there is a rose window and further up, a pediment with a Maltese cross inscribed inside a circle. The doorway has an arch of triumph with a frieze bearing an inscription interrupted by a relief shaped like a scallop with the Maltese cross on it. The interior layout is rectangular with a single nave and chapels that are also rectangular in shape. The main altarpiece is presided over by an image of Saint John the Baptist. The first chapel on the left houses the image of the ‘Santo Cristo de los Boteros’, and the first one on the right contains that of San Cayetano (St. Cajetan).

Die Legende erzählt, dass in der Moschee in der Straße ayn al-amir (Quelle des Emirs), der heutigen Calle de Sant Miquel, der erste Gottesdienst an dem Tag abgehalten wurde, als die Truppen von König Jaume I. in die Stadt einzogen. Das alte Gebäude aus der Zeit der Mauren wurde entsprechend geweiht und diente anschließend als Kirche, bis man um das Jahr 1390 mit den Bauarbeiten für das neue Gotteshaus begann. Der Glockenturm der Kirche ist häufig für das Minarett der Moschee gehalten worden. Es scheint, dass der Name Sant Miquel vom Beichtvater von Jaume I. herrührt (Bruder Miquel Fabra), jenem Dominikaner, der das Gotteshaus weihte und dem Schutzheiligen widmete. Aufgrund eines Brandes im 16. Jahrhundert, der die gesamte Baustruktur zerstörte, sind heute vom gotischen Gebäude nur noch die Fassade und die erste Kapelle (nach dem Betreten auf der rechten Seite) erhalten. Das Kirchportal, das Pere de Sant Joan zugeschrieben wird, dem Hauptbaumeister der Diözese, ist schlicht gehalten und eines der schönsten gotischen Bauwerke. Ein Gewölbebau dient als Zugang zur Kirche und wird von einem spitz zulaufenden Giebelfeld und zwei spitzen Seitenerkern abgeschlossen. Am Giebelfeld befindet sich eine sitzende Jungfrau, die von musizierenden Engeln begleitet wird. Es sollten die gotischen Wappen hervorgehoben werden, die die Fassade schmücken, sowie im Gebäudeinnern die Skulptur der Heiligen Jungfrau María de la Salud, die der Legende zufolge an der königlichen Galeere der Kriegsflotte von König Jaume I. prangte. Im Innern zeichnet sich die Kirche durch einen Grundriss mit einem einzigen Kirchenschiff, eine trapezförmige Apsis und quadratische Seitenkapellen aus. Die Kapellen werden einer Gewölbedecke mit einfachen Kreuzrippen überspannt, bis auf die Kapelle des Tabernakels und die Kapelle der Heiligen Jungfrau María de la Salud. Der im Barock-Stil gehaltene Hochaltar ist das Werk von Francesc Herrera und wird von einem Abbild der Schutzheiligen beherrscht, der die Kirche geweiht ist. Sie wird von den Erzengeln Gabriel und Rafael begleitet. Das Gewölbe des Altarraums ist mit Malereien von Joan Morey versehen, die den Kampf des Heiligen Michael gegen die abtrünnigen Engel darstellen. An den Seiten befinden sich zwei Gemälde von Joan Muntaner Cladera über die Erscheinungen des Heiligen Sant Miquel.