The town of Pollença in Majorca

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Introduction

General presentation

The town of Pollensa in Majorca - Patch Pollença (author Joan M. Borras). Click to enlarge the image.

Pollença is a farming town in the northern coast of the Majorca island, whose coastline is experiencing a tourism success since the 1930s. Pollença is also the capital of a municipality which includes the town of Pollença itself (about 7000 inhabitants), its port, Port de Pollença (about 6500 inhabitants) and other smaller communities such as Cala de Sant Vicenç.

The town of Pollença was founded in the thirteenth century, and its very compact urban plan retains a medieval feel, with lots of narrow winding streets. However, most of the houses were built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The cultural richness of Pollença show, among others, the Roman bridge, the parish church of Our Lady or the Angels, the oratory of Old Rosary (Roser Vell), the Monastery of St. Dominic, the stairwell of Calvary the Puig de Maria, the impressive Cabo Formentor, the Castell del Rei, the fields of Son Marc, Formentor and Ternelles, the Tower of Albercuix (Albercutx Torre).

But the charm of Pollença is also the fact of its landscape, formed by high mountains (Puig de Ca de Miner, 887 m) and washed by rivers valleys floodplain of S’Albufereta is an important wetland.

The coastline of Pollença has the longest coastline of any of the island of Majorca. It features spectacular cliffs, reefs, islets, the largest number of caves on the island - like those of Cala Sant Vicenç - a large enclosed bay, sheltered by the last links of the Serra de Tramuntana, with beaches of fine white sand.

Etymology and toponymy

The name comes from the name of Pollença the Roman settlement of Pollentia - Latin polent "powerful" - founded by Quintus Caecilius Metellus in 123 BC after conquering Majorca, the remains of the ancient Pollentia few kilometers from Pollença, on the territory of the commune of Alcùdia.

Before the conquest of 1229, the place was known as’ Al-Bulansa by the Moors.

In Castilian Spanish, the name of the city is written Pollensa.

Location

Pollença is situated in the northern tip of the island of Majorca, at the northern end of the Serra de Tramuntana, near Cap de Formentor, where the mountains give way to the coastal plain.

The city was founded in the thirteenth century by the Catalans, 6 km from the coast to avoid the attacks of Saracen pirates. Northeast along the coast, is its port, Port de Pollença. The town also includes comely resort of Cala Sant Vicenç.

Pollença is part of the county of Sierra de Tramontana, the town is bordered by those Campanet, Escorca, Alcúdia and Sa Pobla.

The territory of the municipality of Pollença - more than 150 km² - includes, among others, the whole peninsula of Formentor.

Visits

The Church of Our Lady of the Angels (Església de Nostra Senyora dels Àngels / Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles)
The main town square of Pollença, the Plaça Major, is dominated by the parish church of Our Lady of the Angels (Església de Nostra Senyora dels Àngels), dedicated to the patron saint of the city, the Virgin Mary, and St. Michael the Archangel. At this location stood in antiquity a Greco-Roman temple. The first church, rather austere, was built in the thirteenth century (around 1236) by the Templars, on land allocated to them after the Reconquista of Majorca, after the prohibition of the Temple, the church passed, as all property Templar at the hands of another military order, the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. The Order of Malta retained the church until the nineteenth century, from 1314 to 1861. The church was rebuilt in Baroque style in the eighteenth century (1714-1790). The building has a large, high sober façade only breakthrough in 1855 with a rosette of neo-Gothic style, with a Maltese cross, a symbol of the parish, in the center of the rosette, and, in 1879, of a gate onto the Plaça Major, which highlights the main entrance decorated with sculptures by the sculptor Lorenzo Ferrer. The high lantern tower built on the ruins of an old defense tower of the fifteenth century, houses a clock installed November 29, 1844. The church consists of a vaulted nave with seven side chapels on each side. The apse is semicircular. The interior of the church contains a beautiful altar in 1759 from the Mount Zion Church (Església de Monti-Sion), Jesuit church nearby, after the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767. The church also contains fourteen beautiful murals depicting the Stations of the Cross, works of painters of the early twentieth century Argentina Atilio Boveri, German Eugen Massgraber and Spaniard Joaquin Tudela.
The College of St. Ignatius (Col · legi Sant Ignasi / Collegio San Ignacio)
The imposing building of the College of St. Ignatius stands at the foot of Mount Calvary. The Jesuit college, consisting of a church and a convent was built between 1698 and 1738. The church of Mount Zion (Esglèsia de Monti-Sion) adopted the plan of a basilica with side chapels. In 1723, construction was directed by architect Joan d’Aragó, who is also the author of the Baroque interior.
The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (Església de Nostra Senyora del Roser / Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario)
South of Plaça Major, is the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (Església de Nostra Senyora del Roser / Església de Santa Maria de Deu del Roser). The Dominicans began its construction in 1558. The church is a Baroque style, basilica, with ten side chapels, a barrel vault and a coffered ceiling. It contains art treasures: one of the side chapels is decorated with a magnificent baroque altarpiece of the seventeenth century (1651-1662) performed by Joan Antoni Oms, with an image of Old Rosary of the fifteenth century. There is also the tomb of Joan Mas (1520-1607), a native of Pollença and heroes fighting against the Moorish invaders. The church also maintains a magnificent organ built in 1732 by organist Valencia Luis Navarro, this piece is an instrumental gems of the eighteenth century. The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary is the church of the monastery of St. Dominic.
The Monastery of St. Dominic (Convent de Sant Domènec / Convento de Sant Domingo)
The cloister of the monastery of St. Dominic is a baroque building begun by the Dominicans in the late sixteenth century and completed in the second decade of the seventeenth century. This harmonious cloister, the regular plan, is surrounded by four wings with arches supported by Ionic columns. The monastery houses the Museum of Pollença, the monastery provides a framework for concerts Classical Music Festival of Pollença. Address: Carrer de Guillem Cifre de Colonya s / n Summer hours (June-September): Tuesday to Saturday, from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 17:30 to 20:30 Winter hours (October to May): Tuesday to Saturday, from 10:00 to 13:00 Entry Fee: € 1.5 Phone: 00 34 971 531 166
Mount Calvary (Puig del Calvari / Monte Calvario)
From Plaça Major, one reaches the Mount Calvary, above 170 m, a street famous staircase of 365 steps lined with cypress trees. Every year on Good Friday, a procession leading to the summit of Calvary, some pilgrims make the climb to his knees. From the top of the hill (330 m), the panoramic view of the town of Pollensa reward the effort, even if it is not mounted on his knees, and there was also a small coffee angel next to the chapel. The summit is also accessible by car.
The Oratory of the Calvary (Oratori del Calvari / Oratorio del Calvario)
At the top of Mount Calvary, is a baroque oratory of the late eighteenth century, built between 1795 and 1799. Baroque façade integrates Mannerist and neoclassical elements. His plan is slightly oval with a semicircular apse. The chapel houses a statue of the crucified Christ with the Virgin’s feet dating from the fourteenth century. Tradition has it that the statue was found by fishermen near Cala de Sant Vincenz.
The Roman Bridge (Pont Romà / Puente Romano)
The Roman Bridge of Pollença is the only bridge from the Roman era, this bridge with two arches was - originally - built in the second century, around 120 AD, to cross a river north of the city The torrent St. George (Torrente de Sant Jordi), now dry. The bridge was probably rebuilt shortly after the Christian conquest in 1229. It was restored in the nineteenth century.
The Shrine of St. Mary of the Mount (Santuari of Santa María des Puig / Santuario de Nuestra Señora del Puig)
South of Pollença, 330 meters above sea level, stands the ancient sanctuary of St. Mary of the Mount (Santuari de la Mare de Déu des Puig) of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century. The sanctuary was built when the plague struck the town of Pollença, a few years later, a religious community settled there. It was an important monastery nobility confided to him his daughters, but the bishop of Majorca did close, the sanctuary was abandoned for a long time and was not reopened for worship until 1638. In the eighteenth century, the church of the fifteenth century was profoundly transformed, replacing the Gothic style of the Baroque era, but in the nineteenth century, a new transformation returned the original Gothic style. The church has a single nave basilica, where the Gothic style predominates, an altarpiece of the Virgin dating from the fourteenth century. The refectory of the fifteenth century, is one of the most impressive rooms in Mallorca. You can access the shrine on foot via a paved road dating from the seventeenth century, the journey takes an hour’s walk. The sanctuary includes a hostelry originally intended to pilgrims can stay there for twenty euros.
The Royal Citadel (Castell del Rei / Castillo del Rey)
Castell del Rei, in the fourteenth century, is located in the coastal range, 7 km north of Pollença (about 2 hours walk). Castle - also known as Ternelles - is on a private domain must request permission from the mayor to visit.
Village Cala de Sant Vicenç
The village of Cala de Sant Vicenç is one of the nicest resorts in Mallorca, located 6 miles northeast of Pollença, the resort enjoys an attractive setting and lonely, with a mixture of opulent villas and ’modern hotels scattered around a wooded ravine at the back of two tiny sand beaches.
Nature Reserve of S’Albufereta de Pollença
S’Albufereta de Pollença, the "small Albufera", is a wetland located on the border between the towns of Alcúdia and Pollença. The area is a nature reserve since 2002 and is a breeding area for the osprey (Pandion haliaetus), black vulture (Aegypius monachus), Eleonora’s falcon (Falco eleonorae) and the red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus).

History, geography, arts, traditions, flora…

History
Pollença is considered one of the oldest settlements of the Mediterranean, with an important port since the days of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Moors and the Aragonese.

Pollença successfully repulsed a series of attacks by Moorish pirates, the latest and most threatening that occurred in 1550, when the famous Turkish pirate Dragut passed very close to victory. During the festival of Mare de Déu dels Angels, August 2, the inhabitants of Pollença celebrate their victory by fighting enthusiastic street. This festival is named after the cry of the hero of the resistance to Muslim invasion, a Joan Más "Mare de Déu dels Angels, assistiu-nos! "(Our Lady of the Angels, help us !).

Practical Information

Weather forecast

The Tourist Office

Address: Carrer de Sant Domènec, 17, in front of the church of Nostra Senyora del Roser.

Phone: 00 34 971 535 077

Hours: Monday to Friday, from 8:00 to 20:00, Sunday from 10:00 to 13:00

Website of the Town Hall: www.ajpollenca.net