Church sights in Mallorca
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Església de Sant Miquel
Raised after the conquest of Mallorca, this church is a striking mix. It was one of the first four churches built on the site of a mosque where the island's first Mass was celebrated on 31 December 1229. The facade and entrance, with its long, low arch, is a perfect example of 14th-century Catalan Gothic. The squat, seven-storey bell tower is also a Gothic creation.
Otherwise, the church, with its barrel-vaulted ceiling, is largely the result of a baroque makeover. Note the statue of Pope John Paul II on the right as you enter.
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Església de Sant Jaume
Despite its baroque facade, this is one of Palma's older surviving Gothic churches, a grey soaring eminence, and one of the first four parish churches to be built, from 1327 'under the protection of the Royal House of Mallorca'. It is said that the Bonapart family (later Bonaparte) lived around here until they moved to Corsica in 1406. Napoleon could have been a Mallorquin!
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Església de Sant Bartomeu
A disciple of architect Antoni Gaudí, Joan Rubió got some big commissions in Sóller. The town didn't want to miss the wave of modernity and so Rubió set to work in 1904 on the renovation of the 16th-century Església de Sant Bartomeu. The largely baroque church (built 1688–1723) preserved elements of its earlier Gothic interior, but Rubió gave it a beautiful if unusual Modernista facade.
The interior is gilded yet sombre with dimly lit chapels offset by the ornate altarpiece. Our favourite perspective is to walk towards the altar, and then turn for a view of the chandelier, organ and luminous rose window. The church's candelabra-like summit is visible from all over…
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Església de Santa Maria de Déu de Roser
This convent church, adjacent to the Museu de Pollença, is a baroque job with barrel vault, gaudy retable and medallions in the ceiling. It's used for the Festival de Pollença.
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Església de Santa Magdalena
The main claim to fame of the baroque Església de Santa Magdalena is as being the resting place of Santa Catalina Thomàs of Valldemossa. Her clothed remains are visible through a glass coffin held in a chapel to the left of the altar and are an object of pilgrimage.
It is said that the future saint sat weeping by a great clump of stone one day as none of the convents would accept her because she was too poor. Then someone told her that the convent once attached to the Església de Santa Magdalena would take her in. She was overjoyed. The stone in question is now embedded in the rear wall of the 14th-century Església de Sant Nicolau on Plaça del Mercat.
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Església del Monti-Sion
The gaudy baroque facade of the Església del Monti-Sion was converted from a Gothic synagogue. It got a serious baroque makeover, inside and out, in the 16th to 17th centuries.
As you wander in, a priest sitting in a booth by the entry may flip a switch and light up the curves-and-swirls baroque retablo at the back of the church. Gothic giveaways include the ogive arches in front of the chapels, the key vaulting in the ceiling and the long, low Catalan Gothic arch just inside the entrance.
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Església de la Mare de Déu deis Àngels
A church was first raised on this site shortly after the conquest in 1229. The present edifice dates, like most major Mallorcan churches, to the 18th century. The unusually simple rough-sandstone facade is a lovely backdrop to the square, while within is an unusual barrel-vaulted ceiling and extravagant ceiling frescos; some of the latter have been restored with a heavy hand.
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Basílica de Sant Francesc
One of Palma’s oldest churches, the Franciscan Basílica de Sant Francesc was begun in 1281 in Gothic style and its baroque facade was completed in 1700. It's best known for its beautiful, two-tiered, trapezoidal cloister.
In the splendid, sunny Gothic cloister – a two-tiered, trapezoid affair – the elegant columns in various styles indicate it was some time in the making. Inside the lugubrious church, the fusion of styles is clear. The high vaulted roof is classic Gothic, while the glittering, curvaceous high altar is a baroque lollipop, albeit in need of a polish.
In the first chapel (dedicated to Nostra Senyora de la Consolació) on the left in the apse is the…
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Església de Sant Crist de la Sang
Within the Hospital General (founded in the 16th century), you can behold the Gothic facade of this church. It is the object of pilgrimage and devotion, since the paso (a sculpted image used in processions) of 'Holy Christ of the Blood' is considered to be miraculous.
If you happen on a Mass, it's moving to see the devotion of the faithful who climb up behind the altar to venerate the image of Christ crucified, with long, flowing real hair and embroidered loincloth. Just on your left as you enter the church is a 15th-century nativity scene, probably imported from Naples.
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Església de Santa Eulàlia
One of the first major churches raised after the 1229 conquest, the Església de Santa Eulàlia is a soaring Gothic structure with a neo-Gothic facade (a complete remake was done between 1894 and 1924). It is the only such church in Mallorca, aside from the Catedral, with three naves. The baroque retablo is rather worn and you can’t get to the chapels in the apse.
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Església de Santa Creu
Work on this Gothic church began in 1335. The main entrance (Carrer de Santa Creu 7) is a baroque addition. What makes it interesting is the Cripta de Sant Llorenç (crypt of St Lawrence), an early-Gothic place of worship dating possibly to the late 13th century. Some paintings by Rafel Mòger and Francesc Comes are scattered about the interior.
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