Palma De Mallorca

Palma, Mallorca's largest town, has at its core a rich history embedded in fine ancient mansions and museums. Of course mass tourism plays a major role in the local economy, but despite the 3 million visitors who pass through its airport every year, Palma carries on with a traditional cultural life little disturbed by the smell of fast tans and the flow of cheap lager. The town remains very Spanish; somehow the annual onslaught seems to be a source of strength rather than a threat to cultural identity. An impressively progressive mood holds sway: small, modem art galleries thrive and among the great number of restaurants many display a refreshing independence and modernity of style. Everywhere a strong cultural identity is deeply rooted in a cosmopolitan Catalan history. All in all, there is a feeling that Palmans know who they are: proudly Spanish and determinedly modem.

GETTING YOUR BEARINGS

The Almudaina Palace and the cathedral, Palma's key historic sites, command a prime position high on a hill overlooking the waterfront. Below them lies the Parc de la Mar, the best spot from which to view this monumental part of town. The waterfront itself is not a beach, but a dull, modem seawall.

Streets from behind the cathedral head inland, via Palma's most interesting shopping area, towards the Plaza Mayor and its pavement cafes and street entertainers. Both the historic monuments and the plaza attract day-trippers, but there is more to the town that is just as accessible.

The Passeig del Born, with its promenade, is the town's central artery, running through a tunnel of greenery from the Placa de la Reina, near the waterfront, up to the Placa Rei Joan Carles I, where it forks into two large avenues. The arcaded Avenida Rey Jaime III is Palma's main commercial street and also home to the tourist office; Carrer de la Unio curls around below the high part of town, passing steps up to the Plaza Mayor.

To the west of Passeig del Born lies Palma's other old quarter - less spectacular, but still worth exploring. Here Carter Apuntadores is the gastronomic centre of town, a narrow lane crammed with busy, low-priced restaurants. Other lanes this side of Paseo del Born wind between quiet 18th-century town mansions of bold and grand proportions, whose plain, dusty exteriors conceal charming inner courtyards; try to catch a glimpse through any massive doorway left ajar.

Palma De Mallorca Attractions

La Sao, the Cathedral

Palma Cathedral dominates the waterfront. It is a powerful Gothic structure dramatically lodged above the bay, with tremendous flying buttresses and decorative pinnacles. 'Me Renaissance-style west doorway is quite at odds with the exterior and dates the completion of this medieval cathedral around 1601.

Way above any surrounding buildings, its height frees the cathedral from dull, urban shadows and inside is a riot of primary colours as strong sunlight bounces through modem stained-glass windows. The nave appears particularly vast and uplifting since there is no choir in the middle of it, as there is in most Spanish cathedrals, to obscure the sense of space.

The soaring columns seem impossibly spindly, and only the thought of the massive buttresses flanking the outside walls reassures you that the whole building is physically possible. Above the altar, the weird wrought-iron canopy is the work of Gaudi.

Almudaina Palace

(Entrance 3SO pesetas, free on Wednesdays if you carry an EC passport. Open Monday-Friday 10.00-18.20, Saturday 10.00-13.20.) Most impressive viewed from the Parc de la Mar below, the Almudaina Palace was built as an Islamic fort. The Mallorcan royal families of the 14th and 15th centuries transformed it into the palace we see today by adding elegant arches and a beautiful courtyard. Solid, lofty apartments are hung with 16th- and 17th-century Flemish tapestries and still-life paintings. The tour is led by an English-speaking guide.

Basilica de San Francisco

(Placa Sat Francesc. Open Monday-Saturday 9.30-3.00 and 1S.30-19.00.) This basilica is stunning. The facade is of a pale salmoncoloured stone that seems to glow in the sunshine. Clearly influenced by the plateresque, its plain, smooth masonry is decorated by one central rose window, a whirl of intensity, delicately carved with the intricacy of lace. The portal below it is an effusion of baroque swirls and foliage.

Entrance to the basilica is via the adjacent building and takes you through cloisters of slender Gothic arches of Moorish influence. Inside the church, brilliant stained glass emphasizes the gracefulness of the Gothic structure, which has as a focal point a lavish gilt 18-century altarpiece.

Palau Solleric

(Calle Sant Gaieta, 10. Open Tuesday-Saturday 11.0013.30 and 17.00-20.30.) This modern art gallery is housed in an 18th-century mansion. Faint traces of its original decoration cover the facade overlooking the Passeig del Born, but it is the interior that really merits attention. Sculpted pillars of gently mottled marble support graceful Italianate arches around and above a cobbled courtyard. Exquisite proportions make this the most captivating of Palma's old mansions.

Castillo de Bellver

(Open 8.00-20.00; to 18.00 in winter). Worth seeing not only for the municipal museum and the castle's perfectly circular 14th-century keep, but also for the postcard-perfect views across the bay.

Museo Diocesano

(Near Almudaina Palace. Entrance 200 pesetas. Open Monday-Friday 10.00-20.00, Saturday 10.00am-19.00; these times are variable.)

This museum is a crammed and jumbled mixture of paintings, sculptures and other ecclesiastical treasures. Particularly fine is the 14th-century altarpiece by the Master of the Bishop of Galiana, and the vivid portrayals of purgatory, heaven and hell on 16th-century panels.

Museo de Mallorca

(Near Almudaina Palace. Entrance 200 pesetas. Open Monday-Saturday 10.00-14.00 and 16.00-19.00, Sunday and holidays 10.00-14.00.)

Along with archaelogical exhibits and a well-preserved Mudejar ceiling, this museum has a collection of exceptionally fine religious paintings. Particularly worth catching is a 14th-century "Virgin and Child" by Maestro de Alaro, a triptych of "La Anunciacion y los Stos Juanes" and a taut and graphic portrayal of St George skewering a dragon by Franceschi Comes, a local artist.

Banos Arabes (Arab baths)

(Calle Serra, 7, near Almudaina Palace. Entrance 100 pesetas. Open 10.00-19.00 daily.)

The Arab baths are found in what in the 10th century was part of the old Majurka Medina. The Moors imitated the Romans in their construction and use of baths: bathhouses were as much a place to meet as to enjoy the steam rooms and cold pools. The Palma Arab baths are quite small, grouped around a pretty garden. Through an Islamic horseshoe arch is a square room with a small brick dome - probably a caldarium, where the double-layered floor allowed hot air to circulate from the fireplace, so heating the room.

Placa Mayor

The picturesque Plaza Mayor has rows of bold colonnading below burnt-peach walls, and terrace cafes cover the grey and pink marble pavings. It is a real magnet for tourists and comes alive during the summer with buskers, portrait artists and market stalls selling jewellery, clothes and souvenirs. Round about are the liveliest of Palma's shopping streets particularly Calle Jaume II and Calle Sindicat.

The Lonja

The Lonja was the old commercial exchange, an elegant Spanish Gothic building built in the 15th century. Exhibitions are occasionally held here, offering a look inside.

Circulo de Bellas Artes

Modern art gallery, worth seeing as much for the courtyard with its elegant palms as for the contemporary exhibitions. Mallorca has a great number of small, modern galleries; pick up a list from the tourist office for further information.