Palma de Mallorca

Palma (Palma de Mallorca) is the major city and port in the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of the island on the Bay of Palma. As of the 2003 census, the population of the city of Palma proper was 367,277, and the population of the entire urban area was estimated to be 462,010, ranking as the 12th-largest urban area of Spain. Almost half of the total population of Majorca live in Palma.

History

Palma (Palmaria) was founded by the Romans on the remains of a Talayotic settlement, on and around the area of the cathedral and Royal Palace. The Moors conquered the island in 902, and renamed the city Medina Mayurka. The city had numerous mosques, bath houses and gardens, and was regarded on par with Seville, Toledo and Cordoba. Aragonese forces took the city after a 3-month siege in 1229, and renamed it Ciutat de Mallorca, but the old name for the city, Palma, returned to common use. The city prospered most greatly when it was the capital of the Kingdom of Majorca, a part of the Aragonese Crown, in the 13th and 14th centuries. Many of the most noted historic buildings in the city date from this period and show the characteristic Gothic style, notably the cathedral (La Seu) (built from 1230 to 1600) and the mixed Moorish-Spanish style of the Palau de l'Almudaina. As a busy port on the Mediterranean, the Consulate of the Sea was built in 1325. Palma was known as a leading center for maritime cartography. In Spanish Inquisition arrived in 1431, and persecution of the Jews cumulated in the Fogo dels Juesus (Burning of the Jews) in 1691. The first regular ferry link to the Spanish mainland was established in 1837, and the first railway on the island in 1875. The city is now seat of the government for the Balearic Islands.

Related Topics:
Romans - Talayotic - Moors - 902 - Seville - Toledo - Cordoba - Aragonese - 1229 - Kingdom of Majorca - Aragonese Crown - 13th - 14th - Gothic - La Seu - Spanish - Mediterranean - Consulate of the Sea - 1325 - Cartography - Spanish Inquisition - 1431 - Jews - 1691 - 1837 - 1875

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