Palma, Mallorca…a whirlwind tour of the main sights

May 24, 2024

The weather is gorgeous, sunny and pleasantly warm. Our hotel is about a 20-minute walk from the Old Town along the waterfront…a really nice stroll. The plan is to visit the main sites and then soak up the ambience of the Old Town…

The Cathedral-Basilica of Santa María de Mallorca, also known as La Seu, is the heart and soul of the city. Construction of this impressive Levantine Gothic-style building began in the 13th century and was completed in the 1630s. It is located in the same space that once housed a mosque. Over the years, the cathedral has been renovated a few times. One of the most known renovations is the one made by Gaudi in the early 20th century. The Catalan architect was in charge of moving the choir, incorporating glass windows, the canopy of the main altar and liturgical furniture, among other works. 

We arrived at 9:45 and there was a short lineup to buy tickets 16 EUR (24 CAD) for us both, promptly at 10:00 the door opened and we were processed quite quickly. Note to selves: in the future, we should buy “skip the line” tickets”….standing in line is a useless use of energy. Once in there was a comfortable amount of people but by the time we left, it was somewhat zooish. The Cathedral is immense and imposing on the exterior but not as spectacular inside as some we have visited:

Next is the adjacent Almudaina Palace originally built as the seat of the valí (Moorish governor), in the 10th century. Following the Aragonese-Catalan conquest of the island, in 1229, most of the palace was renovated between 1305 and xxx. One of the latest and most important restorations of the Palace was that of the southern facade, which was carried out at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, the Almudaina Palace is mainly used for political purposes, events and tourism.

Afterwards, we walked around the streets of the Old Town which by now were teeming with tourists. It is an extremely picturesque town and one catering to tourists….if you like shopping, eating and drinking in a very pleasant atmosphere you can’t go wrong here:

…the Placa Major, one of the busiest squares in Palma, was once the headquarters of the Inquisition and is now besieged by tourists:

We enjoyed a nice lunch nearby at Cuco Cucina, salad and a crepe which we shared :

 

Then we slow walked back through it was back to the Hotel Azul …

Followed by a bit of a siesta before venturing out a bit later than normal for us to search for the restos we had shortlisted.. tapas again at the “originally” named Tapas de Palma where we sat cheek-by-jowl with other diners on the sidewalk.

Pretty good tapas but we enjoyed the previous night a bit more…was it due to the bottle of sparkler ???

A pleasant day and a beautiful evening…so far it has been a great start in Mallorca.