The glory of Palma - a magnificent Gothic cathedral whose sandstone walls and flying buttresses seem to rise out of the sea. Anything you see inside Palma cathedral will come as a disappontment once you have stood on the seafront and gazed up at its golden sandstone exterior climbing above the old city walls. La Seu stands out from its surroundings, a demonstration of the might of Mallorca's Christian conquerors to all who arrived by sea.
Tradition has it that a storm arose as Jaume I was sailing towards Mallorca. He vowed that if he landed safely he would build a great church in honour of the Virgin on New Year's Day 1230, a day after the fall of Palma, the foundation stone was symbolically laid on the site of the city's main mosque. Work continued for 400 years - and had to resume in 1851 when an earthquake destroyed the west front. More touches were added this century by the Catalan architeat, Antoni Gaudi.
You enter through a side door, passing a small museum, head for the west portal and gaze down the long nave. Light pours in through the rose window - one of the world's largest, 12m across and studded with 1,236 pieces of stained glass. The columns are ringed with wrought-iron candelabra designed by Gaudi. His most controversial addition is the unfinished Crown of Thorns, fashioned from cardboard and cork and suspended above the altar. Be sure to walk around to the south front, facing the sea, to look at the Portal del Miradon a 15th-century door by Guillem Sagrera featuring scenes from the Last Supper.
A royal palace has stood on this site since the Muslim walis (governors) built their alcazar soon after the Arab conquest. It was convected into Gothic style under Jaume II, but elements of Islamic architecture remain - like the Moorish arches seen from the seafront, lit up at night like a row of lanterns.
The courtyard, laid out in 1309 and flanked by palm trees, is at its best in late afternoon when the sun falls on the cathedral towers overhead. Just off the courtyard is the royal chapel, Capella de Santa Ana.
The S'Hort del Rei gardens beneath the palace make a pleasant place to sit beneath the fountains watching the world go by. Look out for the Arc de la Drassana, once the gateway to the royal docks; near here is a statue of a hondero or Balearic slinger. The gardens were rebuilt in the 1960s, forcing the demolition of several houses; their best known landmark is Joan Miro's Egg sculpture, which few people can resist sticking their heads through.
Carrer Palau Reial
Tel: +34 971 727 145
Open: 10.00AM - 6.30PM
These 10th century baths are virtually all that remain of the Arab city of Medina Mayurqa. They were probably part of a nobleman's house and are similar to those found in other Islamic cities. The tepidarium has a dome in the shape of a half orange, with 25 round shafts for sun light, supported by a dozen columns. Notice how each of the columns is different - they were probably salvaged from the ruins of various Roman buildings, an early example of recycling. Hammams were meeting-places as well as wash-houses, and the courtyard with its cactus, palm and orange trees would have made a pleasant place to cool off after a hot bath.
Carrer Can Serra 7
Tel: +34 971 721549
Open: 9.30AM - 6.00PM
The facade of this 13th century church (remodelled after it was struck by lightning in the 17th century) is typically Mallorcan - a massive, forbidding sandstone wall with a delicately carved postal and a rose window at the centre. You enter through peaceful Gothic cloisters with orange and lemon trees and a well at the centre. Inside the church is the tomb of Ramon Llull (1235-1316), the Catalan mystic who became a hermit following a failed seduction attempt and was later stoned to death attempting to convert Muslims in Tunisia. His statue can be seen on the Palma seafront. Outside the basilica is a statue of another famous Mallorcan missionary, Fray Junipero Serra, who once lived in the monastery here. The streets behind the church, once home to jewellers and Jewish traders, are now run down and seedy and best avoided after dark.
Placa Sant Francesc
Tel: +34 971 712695
Open: 9.30AM - 1.00PM, 3.30 - 6.00PM
This old hermitage, 509m above sea level at the highest point of the Serra de Llevant, was the senior house of Mallorca's monastic order and the last to lose its monks, in 1992. It is still a popular place of pilgrimage, flanked by two enormous landmarks - to one side a 14m stone cross, to the other a 35m column topped by a statue of Christ holding out his right hand in blessing. The church contains a fine carved alabaster retable, but more interesting is the side chapel off the qatehouse, full of poignant mementos and prayers to Our Lady. Like other former monasteries, Sant Salvador has a few simple rooms available for pilgrims.
The views from the terrace take in Cabrera, Cap de Formentor and several other hilltop sanctuaries dotted across the plain. From the statue of Christ you look out towards the Castell de Santueri, a 14th century rock castle built into the cliffs on the site of a ruined Arab fortress.
Mallorca's most sacred site - a former monastery in a spectacular setting in the Serra de Tramuntana.
Lluc has been a centre of pilgrimage since the 13th century when an Arab shepherd boy, newly converted to Christianity, discovered a dark wooden statue of the Virgin in a cleft in the rock. The image was placed in the local church but three times it returned miraculously to its cave, whereupon the villagers recognised a message from God and built a shape to house it.
La Moreneta ('the Little Dark One') is now encrusted with precious stones, and sits in a chapel decorated with the arms of every Mallorcan town. Pilgrims and tourists queue to pay homage, especialy on Sundays and at 11AM before the daiy concerts by Es Blauets choir. The choir, named after their blue cassocks, was established in 1531 comprising 40 boys, 'natives of Mallorca, of pure blood sound in grammar and song'. The service is marred by the whirring and flashing of cameras, and if it's meditation you seek, come back instead for the evening Mass.
The monastery complex includes Els Porxerets, the former pilgrims' quarters with stabling beneath the rooms, and the Way of the Rosary, with touches by Antoni Gaudi. From the hilltop cross you look down over an unexpected farm and valley and up into the pinecovered mountains. You can stay at Lluc but it is more like a hotel than a hermitage the 100 'cells' have en-suite bathrooms and there are several restaurants and bars. There is also a museum - among the displays of ceramics, chalices and coins is a collection of paintings by the 20th-century Mallorcan artist Josep Coll Bardolet, with scenes from Deia, Valldemossa and Fornalutx.
Visit Lluc Sanctuary website
This hilltop hermitage is where Junipero Serra preached his last sermon in Mallorca before leaving to found the Mexican and Californian missions. The views from the terrace, covering almost the entire plain, are superb. You can stay here in simple rooms, but unlike other monasteries it has no restaurant or bar - just a chapel, a shop selling religious trinkets and a drinks machine.
