The old city of Palma de Mallorca - The Royal Palace of Almudaina

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Introduction

General presentation

The Almudaina Palace in Palma de Mallorca - The entrance to the palace. Click to enlarge the image.

The Almudaina Palace in Palma de Mallorca - King's Palace. Click to enlarge the image.

The Almudaina Palace was the historical residence of the kings of Majorca, having been the citadel of the Moorish kings of Mallorca. It then belonged to the rulers of Aragon and those of Spain. Indeed, the palace has always been the seat of political power on the island because of its location overlooking the bay and the city of Palma.

Today is the official residence of the King and Queen of Spain during their stay in the Balearic islands. King organizes Almudaina Palace state ceremonies and receptions during the summer.

The private summer residence of the royal family is in Marivent Palace (Palau Marivent / Palacio Marivent) on the outskirts of Palma.

A part of the palace buildings houses the "Captaincy General" or the port office, the Balearic Islands.

Etymology and toponymy

Arabic almudaina means citadel or fortified place.

Location

The Almudaina Palace in Palma de Mallorca - Place d'Armes. Click to enlarge the image.

The Almudaina Palace is located in the west of the Cathedral of Palma. The palace is perched on a cliff overlooking the harbor and the bay of Palma.

In the Middle Ages, the waters of the Bay of Palma came to the walls of the palace and it was possible to board a boat from the King’s Palace.

Visits

The Royal Palace Almudaina (Palau Reial de l’Almudaina / Palacio Real de la Almudaina)
The Almudaina Palace is square in plan. It consists of two separate wings: south, the King’s Palace, located in a rectangular tower and west, the Palace of the Queen. Its dominant architectural style is Gothic Levantine, although the building has undergone major restoration in the 1960s and 1970s. The interior of the rooms is characterized by a pronounced Mudejar.
	1 - Great Gate 2 - Great Hall 3 - King’s Palace 4 - Tower of the Angel 5 - Queen’s Palace 6 - Court of "Brollador" 7 - Chapel St. Anne 8 - Parade-ground
The Walls and Towers
The citadel, rectangular in plan, is surrounded by powerful protected by fourteen square towers and crenellated walls. The Palace of the Lord King is defended by four towers and a dungeon, or Tower of the Angel. The new tower, the "Torre del Caps" is a work of Guillem Reynés.


The Great Gate (Porta Major / Puerta Mayor)
Access to the castle is the Great Gate (Porta Major) in the facade of the palace facing the cathedral. The Great Gate opens to the Court of Honor and the Parade-ground.
The Old Wall-walk (Paseo de Ronda)
After checkout, the tour starts on the left to Tinell, borrowing a corridor that is part of the old wall-walk (Paseo de Ronda) of the Muslim fortress. When the palace was built, the wall that protected the Almoravid Muslim fortress became the south facade of the palace, and the wall-walk became the corridor. The wall-walk has a beautiful black and white Mudejar ceiling was uncovered during restoration work in 1967.
Hall Tinell (Salò del Tinell / Salón del Tinell) or Great Hall (Salò Major / Salón Mayor)
The Tinell or Great Hall, is a body of independent building to the left of the Parade-ground. This building, in Gothic style, was built in the early fourteenth century, next to the façade of the Palace of the Lord King. The Great Hall was identical to the throne room of the Palace of the Kings of Majorca in Perpignan. In 1578, the roof of the Great Hall collapsed, when reconstructed, King Philip II decided to divide the Great Hall into two floors: the ground floor, the Royal Audience Hall, and at the Upstairs, the Throne Room. The architect who made the renovation of the Salò Major was Pere Castany, owner of the King.
Today we can clearly see that the vaulted ceilings of the ground floor doorways impinge on what was the lower windows of the Great Hall.
The Royal Audience Hall
The Royal Audience Hall occupied the lower floor of the Great Hall after its separation into two floors, the Audience Hall was divided into three rooms: the Fireplace Room, the Hall of Kings and Living Tips.
The Room of the Fireplaces (Salò de Xemeneies / Salón de Chimeneas)
During the reconstruction of the Great Hall, it was divided into four rooms, three on the ground floor and the throne room on the first floor, the first room on the ground floor is known as the "Hall of Chimneys" because of the large fireplace trifocals which heated the Great Hall.

The Hall of Kings (Salò de Reis / Salón de Reyes)
The Hall of Kings was the second of three rooms constituting the Royal Audience Hall. Its name comes from the presence of nine portraits of the kings of Majorca painted in the twentieth century by José Sancho of Jordana.
The Living Tips (Salò de Consells / Salón de Consejos)
La Salle Consulting is the largest of the three rooms that were all the Royal Audience Hall, following the division of Tinell. The name of the consulting room is that it is held in July 1983, a Council of Ministers, chaired by His Majesty King Juan Carlos I.


The ceiling of this room is an arch whose keystone is adorned with the arms of Philip II of Spain. The room is currently decorated Tips Spanish tapestries of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, illustrating the battles against the Turks.

The Throne Room (Salón del Trono)
The "Great Hall" or Throne Room, is now referred to the higher of the former Great Hall after its division into two floors upstairs. The ceiling, which was in very poor condition, was fully restored in 1985.

The Great Hall or Throne Room, which is the largest part of the floor is used for official receptions of the royal family.

The Great Room features beautiful Flemish tapestries from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century.

The Palace of the Lord King (Palau del Senyor Rei / Palacio del Señor Rey)
On the west side of Tinell the tour continues through the four rooms on the lower floor of the Palace of the Lord King. The Palau del Senyor Rei occupies a large rectangular three-storey tower, with four crenellated towers at the corners. The King’s Palace, on the side of the sea, a gallery overlooking a terrace, and a Gothic loggia ventilated. Three of the four rooms provide access to the terrace. The interior of the rooms is impregnated with the Mudejar style: animal statues carved coffered ceilings.
The Arcade of the Sea (/ Arco del Mar)
The south facade of the Palace of the King features a beautiful gothic gallery with pointed arches, with a magnificent view over the bay of Palma. The west facade is decorated with a colonnade of arches and mullioned windows lanceolate.

The Guard Room
The Guard Room is located at the northwest corner of the King’s Palace and leads to the west wing of the terrace. This room was the quarters of the guard defending the palace. As the Arab baths were built, a passage was arranged for access.

The Dining Room Officers
The Dining Room Officers is on the ground floor at the northeast corner of the Palace of the King. The play opens on the Parade-ground, it was the entrance to the lower floor of the Palace of the King.



The Keep (Torre del Angel / Torre del Ángel)
The King’s Palace is defended by a tower, also called Tower of Homage (Torre del Homenaje) or Angel Tower (Torre del Angel / Torre del Ángel), because of the statue of the Archangel Gabriel which rises to the top. This statue of the Archangel Gabriel or Angel Guard (Ángel Custodi / Ángel Custodio) is a work of the fourteenth century commissioned by King Jaume II sculptor Antoni Camprodon, from Perpignan. The base of the tower is located next to the Dining Room Officers.
The Upper Floor King’s Palace
The upper floor of the King’s Palace is decorated and furnished with objects and furniture from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from other Royal Sites (Flemish tapestries, clocks, tables…).

The rooms of the Palace of the King
The halls of the Palace of the King have many Flemish tapestries from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which illustrate episodes in Spanish history, tapestries and banners Spanish seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, decorated with scenes of the Battle of Lepanto (1571) where the Venetian and Spanish fleets jointly defeated the Turkish fleet.


The Old Dining Room of the King (Menjador al Palau del Senyor Rei / Menjador en el Palacio del Señor Rey)
In this room the kings of Mallorca took their private dining and confer with their advisors. The dishes were brought from the kitchen by a spiral staircase leading directly into the room. The piece was restored in 1973, as the stucco decoration was removed and we discovered that the modern ceiling covering a Mudejar coffered ceiling which was restored in 1979. In this room you can also see the remains of wall paintings of the Christian era showing characters horse warrior posture.

The Old Wardrobe King (Recambra del Rei)
This piece is the old wardrobes King. It has a coffered ceiling of the fourteenth century and an interesting mural frieze dating from the Christian occupation of the palace, which represent between vases and scrolls, human figures and animals. According to the archives a private chapel was then installed in this room.

The Hall of the Palace of the King

Parade-ground (Pati d’Armes / Patio de Armas)
The main entrance of the palace leads directly to the Parade-ground, also known as Patio of the Kings (Patio de los Reyes) or Cour d’Honneur (Patio de Honor).

You can see in the Cour d’Honneur carved canopies and Romanesque arches.


Royal Chapel of St. Anne (Capella Reial de Santa Aina / Capilla Real de Santa Ana)
During the transformation of the Muslim fortress palace in the fourteenth century, King Jaume II also ordered the construction of a Royal Chapel (Capella del Rei / Capilla del Rey), also known as the Chapel of St. Anne (Capella de Santa Aina / Capilla de Santa Ana). Although small, the Royal Chapel is considered one of the most beautiful chapel of Palma. Its facade, which overlooks the Courtyard of Honor, is Romanesque: the magnificent arched portal is one of the few examples of Catalan Romanesque style in the Balearic Islands.

The interior - small enough - the Chapel of St. Anne is an excellent example of Levantine Gothic architecture, and its warhead cross is of exceptional beauty.

The interior shows one of the most authentic of all Almudaina spaces. The major restoration took place in 1904 under the regency of Queen María Cristina, affected mainly the outside but had no effect on the important elements of its architecture, in addition, the restoration permitted to repair the large windows and to clear the walls of multiple layers of plaster that covered.

The St. Anne chapel has, behind the altar, an altarpiece of San Julián, dating from the fifteenth century (from 1465), the work of painter Majorcan Rafael Mojer.

The Chapel of St. Praxedes was built in 1432 by Alfonso V the Magnanimous, to venerate the relics of St. Praxedes that had been reported to the Almudaina from Rome by Jaume III, and stored in a crystal urn and bronze.
The Royal Staircase (/ Escalera Real)
On the Parade-ground opens the door of the Royal Staircase (Escalera Real) which gives access to the upper floor.


Arab Baths (Banys Àrabs / Baños Árabes)
Situated between the Palace of the King and the Queen’s Palace, the Arab baths were shared by the two palaces. As these baths were private bathroom, they are small and are limited to three parts: frigidarium or cold water bath, rectangular in plan; the tepidarium or warm water bath, which is square and covered with a circular dome was used for the application of ointments. caldarium, or hot tub, which is rectangular. These parts are on top of a hypocauste, district heating system and with a furnace to distribute heat pipes. Arab Baths communicate with the patio of the Brollador and Parade-ground.

The Court of Brollador (Pati del Brollador / Patio del Brollador)
Behind the Chapel of St. Anne is the court of brollador (bubbling fountain).
The Queen’s Palace (Palau de la Senyora Regina / Palacio de la Reina)
On the west side of the courtyard Brollador is the Queen’s Palace (Palau de la Senyora Regina), which spans the entire facade which overlooks the King’s Garden (Hort del Rei) and the Rambla.
The Queen’s Patio (Pati de la Reina / Patio de la Reina)
Further inland are the Court of the Queen’s gallery overlooking the St. James.
Chapel St. James (Capella de Sant Jaume / Capilla de San Jaime)
The Chapel of the Queen (Capella de la Reina / Capilla de la Reina) is also named Chapel St. James.
The Captaincy General
The rest of the palace occupied by the offices of the army and of the Delegation of National Heritage, do not visit.

The King’s Garden (Hort del Rei / Huerto del Rey)
The King’s Garden is a public garden located to the west of the palace at the foot of the Almudaina. It is nice to walk along the shaded paths or sit for a moment to listen to the fountains. The garden is decorated with sculptures by Miró, Subirachs and Calder.


At the southern entrance from the garden, a Moorish arch, the Drassana Musulmana was recently restored.

The Queen’s Garden (Huerto de la Reina)

History, geography, arts, traditions, flora…

History
The history of Almudaina summarizes the history of the Balearic Islands : all civilizations that have passed through the island of Mallorca have left their mark. The human presence in this place finds its origins in the oldest megalithic institutions.

It will then built a Roman castrum after the founding of the Roman Palma by Caecilius Metellus Pius in 123 BC.

In the tenth century (around 902), when Mallorca came under Muslim rule of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba, the ancient Roman fortress was enlarged and transformed into a fortress to protect the city of Medina Mayurqa. The fortress, known then as the "Zuda" was the residence of the wali, the Muslim governor.

The last Moorish governor who lived in Almudaina was Abu Yahya, who was expelled by King Jaume I of Aragon when he conquered the island of Majorca in 1229.

From that moment began the Christian domination dynasty kings of Majorca established the seat of the Crown in the Almudaina.

The first independent Christian king, crowned in 1276, Jaume II of Mallorca, son of Jaume I the Conqueror, realized during the last years of the thirteenth century, from 1281 and until 1311, the transformations that made the ancient castle a palace, a Catalan printing very ancient Moorish structure. Although the royal court of the Kingdom of Islands - which also included Roussillon - had his official residence in Perpignan, Jaume II wanted to restore the citadel to make his summer palace modeled after the Royal Palace Perpignan (Palacio Real de Perpiñán).

Jaume II appealed to Pere Salvá, the architect who also oversaw the construction of the Bellver Castle. It relied on what was left of the old Arab citadel and rebuilt inside in Gothic style in force at the time.

The transformation of the castle into a palace lasted until 1343, under the reign of Jaume II of Sanç Jaume I and III. The Almudaina was the seat of prosperous kingdom of Mallorca until 1349, when Jaume III was defeated and killed at the Battle of Llucmajor and the Kingdom of Majorca attached to the kingdom of Aragon Pere IV.

After the annexation of the Kingdom of Majorca in the Crown of Aragon, the Almudaina Palace was the residence of the governors of the island, viceroys and captains general.

The Almudaina was rebuilt in the Renaissance, 1560, during the reign Philip II of Spain that the destination "Tinell" as royal courtroom and settled in the rest of the building the Captaincy General of the islands.

Since 1963, the Almudaina Palace has undergone significant and ongoing restoration conducted by the Spanish National Heritage (Patrimonio Nacional).

Literature
About Almudaina Palace, George Sand wrote: "Nothing is more irregular, more inconvenient and more brutally than this medieval manor house, but also nothing more proud, more further characterized gentleman that manor (…)."

Practical Information

General information

The Almudaina Palace was the scene of the traditional Changing of the Guard of Honour on Christmas Day at noon. Staged over twenty soldiers accompanied by drums to recreate the changing of the guard as it was in 1808 when the Regiment Volunteers Palma was created by the Marquès de Vivot.

Visitors to Mallorca can see this show throughout the year on the last Saturday of the month.

Visiting hours

The Almudaina Palace in Palma de Mallorca - Entrance to the Palace of Almudaina. Click to enlarge the image.

Visit:

Palau de Almudaina

Carrer Palau Reial s / n

07001 Palma, Palma de Mallorca (Mallorca)

Summer hours, from 1 April to 30 September: Monday to Friday, from 10:00 to 17:45, Saturday and holidays from 10:00 to 13:15.

Winter hours from October 1 to March 31: Monday to Friday, from 10:00 to 13:15 and from 16:00 to 17:15, Saturday and holidays from 10:00 to 13:15.

Closed Sundays.

Entry Fee: Free Visit: 3,20 €. Guided tour: € 4.

Free admission on Wednesdays for citizens of the European Union.

Phone: 00 34 971 214 134

Website: www.patrimonionacional.es

Part of the Palace of the Queen northeast side is occupied by administrative and is currently closed to the public.

At the entrance of the Palace of audio guides are available.