Crypt of Sant Llorenç

Religious | Palma de Mallorca

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.