Back From Barcelona – Mallorca #5 – The Palma Cathedral

We toured the Cathedral of Palma, also known as the Cathedral de Santa Maria de Palma or La Seu (many smaller churches are also called La Seu), on our own, with one of the audio versions of the self-guided tours. It was already an old 14th century cathedral when Antoni Gaudí was commissioned to refurbish it. At first he was working on both this cathedral and Sagrada Familia, as well as other projects at the same time, before he switched to working exclusively on Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. He tried out new concepts and ideas in Palma and then took many of those over to Sagrada Familia. Both are beautiful and ingenious works of art, but after visiting both, I actually prefer the Cathedral in Palma to Sagrada Familia.

The Cathedral de Santa Maria de Palma was originally built by the Crown of Aragón on the site of a Moorish-era mosque, the cathedral is 121 metres long, 40 metres wide and its nave is 44 metres tall. By way of comparison, the height of the central nave reaches 33m in Notre Dame de Paris, 38m in Reims, 42m in Notre-Dame d’Amiens and 48m in Saint-Pierre de Beauvais, the highest of all Gothic cathedrals. It is one of the most spectacular works of Gothic architecture in Spain.

Designed in the Catalan Gothic style but with Northern European influences, it was begun by King James I of Aragon in 1229 but only finished in 1601. It sits within the old city of Palma atop the former citadel of the Roman city, between the Royal Palace of La Almudaina and the episcopal palace. It also overlooks the Parc de la Mar and the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1901, fifty years after a restoration of the cathedral had started, Antoni Gaudí was invited to take over the project. While some of his ideas were adopted – moving the choir stalls from the middle nave to be closer to the altar, as well as a large canopy – Gaudí abandoned his work in 1914 after an argument with the contractor. The planned changes were essentially cosmetic rather than structural, and the project was cancelled soon after.

Gaudi was inspired by nature and the capturing of light in his works, especially in his cathedrals. Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Catalan architect and designer from Spain, known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí’s works have a highly individualized, sui generis style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the church of the Sagrada Família.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria de Palma is still a very active church. Services are held regularly and people from around the world attend.

The stained glass windows are just absolutely exquisite masterpieces.

These two pieces are on opposite sides of the cathedral.

Old cathedrals are also beautiful art museums. Every piece is exquisitely designed and crafted by gifted and extremely talented masters of their trades.

Everything, from the floors to the ceilings are just one beautiful piece of art after another, after another.

Even the gates and doors are beautifully and artfully designed. Everything was designed to glorify God and the Crown or the State.

You don’t have to be Catholic, or even religious, to appreciate all the attention to every minute detail that goes into every single piece inside these beautiful cathedrals. If you appreciate great art and attention to absolutely every detail, you should definitely visit the great cathedrals and/or basilicas of the world. There is nothing else that compares to these magnificent artworks. I would highly recommend touring the Cathedral de Santa Maria de Palma. It is absolutely breathtaking. It is also located right at the sea as well, though the sea has been extended out through walls and modern technology in recent years.