Tours in Palma
Palma holds roughly half of everyone who lives on Mallorca and almost none of what people picture when they say the island. It is a working Mediterranean city with a cathedral on the seafront, a medieval core you can cross in twenty minutes, and a marina that fills each spring with boats being readied for the season.
La Seu is the reason most people come. Begun in 1229 on the site of the mosque that stood there, it took nearly four centuries, and its rose window — 13.7 metres across, 1,236 pieces of glass — is the largest in the Gothic world. Twice a year, in February and November, the sun projects it onto the wall below the west window so the two rosettes align. Gaudí worked here from 1904 and left before finishing; the wrought-iron canopy over the altar is his.
The rest is streets. The Arab baths, the Almudaina palace opposite the cathedral, the courtyards of the Renaissance mansions along Carrer de Can Savellà, and Santa Catalina, the old fishermen's quarter now full of small kitchens. Bellver Castle sits above the city and is one of only a handful of circular castles in Europe. Things to do in Palma work best on foot and in the morning; the city empties into siesta and refills after nine. Season runs March to November, and unlike the coast it stays open all winter.
