La Immaculada Concepció
There must be over 300 churches and chapels in Mallorca. Most of these churches are pretty dark inside, sombre, forbidding, authoritarian, almost fear inspiring. The parish church in Ca’s Concos […]
The Feast Of The Sacrifice
The biblical story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God has its corresponding ritual in the Islamic faith in the Fiesta del Cordero, the celebratory slaughter […]
Family Matters
Mallorca has predominantly been a rural society for many centuries. People got married – in church – and had lots of children, sometimes five or six of them. I know […]
The Organ in Palma’s Cathedral
The órgano mayor (main organ) in Palma’s Cathedral dates from 1789, was designed by Pere Josep Bosch and was inaugurated in 1797. The instrument has four manual keyboards with 56 […]
The Church Bells of Sant Miquel
One does not often have the opportunity to climb up to the sanctum sanctorum of a Mallorcan belfry, but yesterday was my lucky day. I have a thing about churchbells […]
Santa Úrsula and the Virgins
Tomorrow, October 21st, Spain and the rest of the Catholic world celebrate Santa Úrsula and the legend of the 11,000 marauded virgins. In the Spanish speaking world, the October 21st […]
The Portal Major
The Cathedral in Palma de Mallorca was built in a spot where earlier the central mosque of Medina Mayurka had stood. In fact, after the re-conquest the Moorish mosque was […]
Fray Junípero Serra
In 1769, one Pope resided in Avignon, and another one in Rome. The United States of America were not yet constituted, not even remotely imagined. The West coast of what […]
The Església de Santa Caterina de Sena
The Església de Santa Caterina de Sena in Palma de Mallorca is a church dating from the 17th century, built in the style of Italian Baroque. The church is worthy […]
Eid al-Fitr
This year’s fasting period is over. Today’s New Moon signifies the end of Ramadan in Mallorca and will be celebrated as Eid al-Fitr, the biggest Islamic Celebration Day in the […]
D-Day in Santa Ponça
Santa Ponça is busy celebrating the Festas del Rei en Jaume. This year is the 781st anniversary of Jaume I’s reconquista. September 9th, 1229, is said to be the day […]
The Creu Dels Mort in Sineu
In every single Mallorcan pueblo, village and town one can find Creus (crosses) that adorn crossroad intersections. A particular fine specimen can be found on Palma’s Avingudas, not far from […]
Intus Est, Qui Me Regit
The sundial in the photo (above) adorns the Esglèsia de Sant Agustí in Felanitx. The sundial is not the oldest to be found in the town of Felanitx, but it […]
The Esglèsia de Santa Eulàlia
After the Catalan conquest in 1229, Palma de Mallorca was divided into four parishes; one of them being the Parròquia de Santa Eulàlia. The church has recently undergone an extensive […]
The Sleeping Beauty
I am not at all an expert in matters of the Catholic church but, wanting or not, one is quite inevitably engulfed with matters of church traditions in a country […]
The Claustro de Sant Antoniet
The Claustro de Sant Antoni de Viana in Palma de Mallorca, commonly known as Sant Antoniet, originally belonged to a church and a convent, built at around 1727. Large parts […]
