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PUIG DE MARIA

Carrer del Puig de Maria (Carretera de Palma al Port de Pollença, s/n)

A SCENIC VIEWPOINT WITH IMCOMPARABLE VIEWS OF THE VILLAGE OF POLLENÇA

Built in the fourteenth century to plead the Virgin Mary for protection from the Black Death, this shrine now sports a Gothic Revival façade and welcomes visitors and overnight guests.

Standing at 330 metres above sea level, construction of this shrine to the Virgin Mary began in 1348. It was built to plead for protection from the Black Death epidemic that was sweeping across Europe and had arrived that year in Mallorca, killing about 20% of the population.

The monastery that can now be seen on this hill, which commands stunning views of the Bays of Pollença and Alcùdia, the Sierra Tramuntana and the Albufera de Pollença, has been changed drastically since its construction. The original chapel, completed in 1355, turned into a monastery in 1371 and years later the walls and a defence tower were added. In 1564, the monastery was forced to close and didn't reopen its doors until 1638.

In the eighteenth century, the church underwent a thorough refurbishment and even changed its architectural style from Gothic (1) to Baroque (2), although in the late nineteenth century it reverted to its original style thanks to the Gothic Revival trend that was raging throughout Europe. Since then, the monastery has been in the hands of different religious orders and today offers twelve rooms for overnight stays.

The undoubted highlight of the Puig de Maria monastery is its refectory (3), one of the most intact spaces still preserved, as well as the image of the Virgin which features on the altarpiece and dates from the fourteenth century.

(1) Gothic Style: Artistic style between Romanesque and Renaissance that flourished in Western Europe between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, although there are still traces of it in sixteenth-century architecture. Its name stems from the word 'Goth', referring to the Eastern Germanic people who lived between the third and sixth centuries, and was coined to describe a confused and disordered architecture in contrast to the perfection and rationality of classical art. This style placed particular emphasis on structural delicacy and interior light within naves.

(2) Baroque: A term identified with a cultural movement and artistic style dating approximately from the seventeenth to mid-eighteenth century, characterised by excessive ornamentation. In fact, the concept was coined by its critics using the French word 'baroque', one translation of which is 'extravagant', referring to what they considered was an excess on the part of certain artists. As a style, it followed Renaissance and preceded Neoclassicism, first catching on in Italy and then spreading to the rest of Europe

(3) Refectory: Dining hall for monks and nuns in a monastery, usually rectangular in shape and with tables and benches along the walls, which normally feature large windows to let in light.