Of all the famous foreigners attracted to Mallorca's northwest coast, none is so admired locally as 'S'Arxiduc', Archduke Ludwig Salvator. Born in 1847 in the Pitti Palace, Florence, the son of Leopold III of Tuscany and Marie Antoinette de Bourbon, he came to Mallorca 20 years later to escape from Viennese court life and immediately fell in love with the island. An ecologist before it was fashionable, and an eary hippy who wore Mallorcan peasant clothes, he bought up estates along the coast in an effort to save them from development, and devoted himself to studying and recording Mallorcan wildlife and traditions. His seven volume Las Baleares took 20 years to produce and is still an authority on its subject. He died in 1915 in a Bohemian castle.
The Archduke's home at Son Marroig, outside Deia, has been turned into a shrine to his memory, with his photographs, paintings and books and a museum devoted to his life. In the gardens is a white marble rotunda, made from Carrara marble and imported from Italy, where you can sit and gaze at the Na Foradada ('pierced rock') peninsula, jutting out to sea with a gaping 18-m hole at its centre. Ask at the house for permission to walk onto the peninsula.
Visit Son Marroig website
This country house, just south of Banyalbufar, is on a site known since Roman times for its natural spring. When Jaume conquered Mallorca he divided the island into four feudal estates, giving one to Count Nuno Sanc, who settled at La Granja. In 1239 the Count handed the estate to Cistercian monks to found Mallorca's first monastery. Since 1447 it has been a private house owned by various noble families; most of what you see today dates from the 17th century.
Highlights of the tour include an aristocratic drawingroom with its own theatre, the family Chapel and a dungeon with a torture chamber, but the real reason for visiting La Granja is to learn about rural Mallorcan traditions. Workshops, cellars and kitchens contain displays of everyday objects. On Wednesday and Friday afternoons, women in traditional costume give demonstrations of lacemaking, embroidery and spinning, donkeys turn threshing wheels and there are tastings of cheese, wine, sausages, doughnuts and fig cake. Look carefully and you just might see a tray of coca (Mallorcan pizza) being removed from the restaurant oven and carried to the medieval kitchens to be served beside a log fire. There are also displays of bagpipe music and folk dancing, which are entertaining although perhaps not terribly authentic.
Escape from the tour groups by walking in the grounds, which contain botanical gardens, waterfalls and a thousand-year-old yew - there is a 1.2 km signed walk. Look out for the exhibit listed in the guide as 'dog' - it is just that, a ca de bestair, or black-coated Mallorcan guard dog on a chain.
If you have not gorged yourself on free samples, the restaurant serves good Mallorcan staples like pa amb oli (bread with oil) and sopes mallorquines (a vegetable stew).
Visit La Granja website
These classical gardens by the entrance to the Soller tunnel are a legacy of the Arab talent for landscaping and irrigation. Their name derives from al fabi, 'jar of olives' in Arabic. They were probably designed by Benihabet, the Muslim governor of Inca who converted to Christianity following the Spanish invasion.
A flight of steps lined with tall palms leads to a covered walkway - from here you can strike off to see lily ponds, bamboo groves or citrus trees growing in the shadow of the mountains. If you have just driven over the Coll de Soller and are in need of a rest, this would make a lovely spot for a siesta. Take a book or some postcards, find a seat in the shade, then drift off to sleep to the sound of gently flowing water. You may want to try their orange juice - apparently it is some of the best to be found on the island!
Visit Jardines de Alfabia website
Sóller is a botanist’s and enthusiast’s paradise. The Botanical garden is found in a country estate known as “Camp d’En Prohom”, on the outskirts of Sóller. Its primary purpose is to preserve rare or endangered species of the Balearics, and is the result of many years of study and hard work, and now hosts one of Spain’s most extensive wild flora seed banks. They preserve frozen seeds of those species under greater threat. The Botanical Garden of Sóller combines traditional and popular architecture with botany, as it is structured on terraces that group the plants in the garden according to their ecological needs or use.
There are different kinds of plants found in the Botanical Garden of Sóller such as: flora of the Balearic Islands; flora of other Mediterranean Isles, specially from Córcega, Cerdeña, Sicilia, Malta and Creta; flora from the Canary Islands, with species from these islands related to those from the Mediterranean; an ecological farm / orchard (with the aim of studying and preserving all horticultural varieties of traditional vegetables and fruit trees), plants for medicinal and aromatic purposes - with plants that have been used traditionally to heal and/or season, and ornamental plants - with plants from countries from all over the world who also enjoy mediterranean weather conditions and that we use for ornamental purposes.
In 1997 the foundation “Fundació Jardí Botànic de Sóller”was formed. Its headquarters are in an old building built in 1906 located within the same country estate. Used as a Botanical Institute it is a centre of study and research, where the laboratories, library, seed bank and herbarium are kept.
Jardí Botànic de Sóller. Carretera Palma–Sóller, Km 30. Tel: +34 (0)971 634014.
Open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 18:00. Sundays and public holidays 10:00 to 14:00.
Visit Soller Botanical Gardens website
Els Calderers is a manor house situated between Vilafranca and Sant Joan. The house was once at the centre of a large wine estate but like so many others in Mallorca, it fell victim to the phylloxera disease. Reopened in 1993, the 18th-century house is now a museum of Mallorcan furniture and traditions. You can visit the wine cellar, granary, bakery, chapel and wash-house, as well as wander around the main house with its paintings, guns and toys.
Visit Els Calderers website
The monastery in Miramar can be found in Valldemossa and was founded by King Jaume II in 1276 as a missionary school following a request by Ramon Llull (a 13th century theologian and philosopher). The Archduke Ludwig Salvatore of Austria (1847 - 1915) bought the property in 1872 after falling in love with the scenery of the northern coast of Mallorca. At present, Miramar is owned by the Vives family and is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday. There is a small museum where visitors can view objects, documents and works of art relating to the worlds of Llull and the Archduke. A garden with beautiful views to the sea can also be enjoyed by visitors.
Botanicactus is one of Europe's largest botanical gardens, with bamboo and palm trees and dozens of varieties of cactus. The cacti flourish in the dry and sunny climate and the landscape has been specifically designed to protect the plants, with the creation of an artificial lake and raised terraces protecting the plants from the wind. Botanicactus is open throughout the year.
Visit the Botanicactus botanical gardens website
