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).
The oratory of Sant Blai is one of the first churches of Mallorca, as it was built after the conquest preserving a primitive Gothic style of small dimensions. The oratory has a garden, formerly a cemetery. On February 3, the day of San Blas, the people of Campos go to the oratory to spend the day, as every year, in the oratory of Sant Blai to venerate the saint, put the healing oil on their necks and bless the rolls of Sant Blai or the candies that, according to tradition, cure and prevent sore throats.
It was built between 1570 and 1611, according to the project of the master Sebastià Saura or Antoni Genovard. The main portal or portal de les dones (of the women) is of austere design, while the side portal or portal dels homes (of the men) shows a rich Baroque ornamentation, with reliefs of the Mare de Déu seated between St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, and at the ends the figures of St. Peter and St. Paul. The bell tower is very high, and is connected to the temple by a small bridge. The interior of the church is of Gothic typology: plant of a single nave with seven lateral chapels, polygonal apse and cover of seven sections of ribbed vault. The great main altarpiece is baroque, one of the most impressive examples of baroque altarpieces on the island. The sacristy, of rectangular plant, keeps a washbasin of 1761, the image of the Christ of the Descent, and a chalice and a paten of Gothic style, of the centuries XIV or XV.
In 1357 the bishop Antonio Colell created the parish of San Antonio Abad. The current bell tower was built in 1595 and a century later (1696) on the initiative of the parish priest Tomás Serra, the jurors agreed to build the present church. The twelve chapel capitals are the work of the sculptor Pedro Payeras. Around 1702 and 1706 the chapels that are currently dedicated to: * The old chapel of the Baptistery, (today of the relics). * Chapel of Santa Catarina Tomàs * Chapel of Sant Pere * The chapel of the Mare de Déu del Roser * Leaving the chapel of the Roser we have the throne and the chapel of San Sebastián * Chapel of the Purísima made at the end of the XVIII century. * Chapel of the Good Jesus (of the Holy Christ) * Octagonal baptismal font from the 17th century. * The altarpiece of the main altar is from 1868, dedicated to Saint Anthony. * Image of the Virgin of Vialfàs * Chapel of San José (end of the XVIIIth century) * Chapel of the Heart of Jesus, erected in 1940. * Chapel of Sant Francesc * Chapel of the Souls, built between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century. * Chapel of the Virgin of Lourdes, dated 1933, although the image was acquired in 1928. * Chapel of St. Joachim and St. Anne
There are many reasons beyond religion that contribute to make a church an emblematic building, and one of them is to have a good location. The church of Sant Llorenç undoubtedly meets this condition, with its front standing out in the middle of the main square of Selva (Mallorca) and its beaked bell tower of sprouting windows and pyramidal roof protruding among the surrounding buildings, wanting to scratch the sky of the Raiguer region. It has been there for a long time, since the 14th century, when it came to replace another even more primitive temple, although successive alterations have gradually changed its face. Of its two facades; one is the product of one of these reforms; the other, however, was part of the original Romanesque ensemble. Of that primitive aspect and of its mixed function as a fortress, the loopholes in the upper part also speak: small windows where the archers found just the right width for their arrows. A lot of art, many valuable elements concentrated in this temple consecrated to the patron saint of the town, San Lorenzo. It is not surprising that it is considered of cultural interest.
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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.
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.
From the exterior of the church, which was erected as a parish church in the middle of the 19th century, the tower with pointed windows and the rectory are remarkable. Inside, the Santo Cristo that presides over the main altar and the image of the Virgin Mary from the old monastery of La Trapa in one of the side chapels stand out.
Bellpuig monastery is located in the vicinity of cami vell de Ciutat (Palma’s old road). The foundation of the monastery dates back to the Catalan conquest of the island. Jaume I granted this land to the Catalan community of monks from the abbey of Bellpuig de les Avellanes. This historic event led to the resettlement of the area and the new settlers reused the existing prehistoric, Roman and Muslim structures. This monastery is organized around a cloister-shaped square courtyard. The church, stores and monastic dependencies are located around this structure. The church is the best preserved structure by far, with the rest of the site lying in ruins. This gothic style church is typical from the Catalan resettlement period. It features a single nave with gabled roof. The decoration in the interior is composed by the geometrical forms of the capitals and a small window in the apse. The Virgin Mary sculpture was transferred to Artà in 1425 after the monks left the site. The monastery was bought then by the Vivot family. The complex passed to the Dameto family in 1637. This family transformed the monastery into a farmhouse modifying the structure of the monastery. The Consell Insular de Mallorca acquired Bellpuig in 1999. Several excavations have been carried out in the monastery and surroundings, bringing to light prehistoric, Roman, Muslim and monastic artefacts.
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