MALLORCA MUSEUM

Museums | Palma de Mallorca

Since it was set up in 1976, the Museu de Mallorca has been renovating and extending its exhibition area. With the new incorporations, it offers us an interesting tour around the island's history, from the first talaiots to pieces from the Modernist period. Interesting examples of the successive stages in Gothic painting, particularly Italian Gothic and international Gothic. The Museu de Mallorca is located in the palace of the Counts of Ayamans, popularly known as Ca la Gran Cristiana. The building was constructed in the 16th Century by joining together several old houses and it has three floors, a main doorway with a round arch, a stately floor with Baroque balconies and an attic with Gothic windows. Remains of what are regarded as the first identified Muslim house on the island have been found in its central courtyard. A tour around the museum enables the visitor to enter the time tunnel and discover Majorca's history. For example, in the basement you can view the reconstruction of a burial cave, the life-size reproduction of a talaiot or prehistoric tower, and a primitive pottery workshop. Also dating from the prehistoric period are the series of sculpted marble urns which come from the Sanctuary of Son Oms. Of particular interest are the rooms which show the evolution of weapons, ornaments and spiritual symbols of the early settlers. Or those of protohistory, with a collection of materials found at the site of Turó de Ses Beies, which reflects the flourishing trade of the Mediterranean during the 3rd Century BC. An island of colonisation The different periods of colonisation which the island underwent are reflected through reproductions such as the Greek-Punic boat; the rooms of a domus, a Roman house with its typical atrium, a small pool situated in the centre of the house, and the replica of an Arab tomb. Dating from the same period as the latter is the collection of Andalusian pottery and jewellery which belonged to a Muslim family. The museum contains rooms of Gothic paintings with important works, such as the altarpiece of Sant Bernat, the oldest image which is known of the saint. Also of special interest are the areas dedicated to Renaissance ceramics and the Baroque period, where one can contemplate Italian-style pottery and the first portraits painted in Majorca. The last part is reserved for Modernist furniture and the work of Majorcan painters or those living on the island during the last century. Opening times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 10 am to 2 pm and from 5 pm to 7 pm; Thursdays, from 10 am to 2 pm and from 6 pm to 9 pm, and Sundays, from 10 am to 2 pm. Closed on public holidays.