The town of Campanet in Majorca

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Introduction

Campanet is a small agricultural town in the north of the Serra de Tramuntana in the western part of the island of Majorca. The city has a population of about 2600 inhabitants and is part of the County of Raiguer.

The town is most famous for the caves of Campanet 3 km from the city.

Etymology and toponymy

City Campanet Mallorca - Patch City Campanet (author Sancho Panza XXI). Click to enlarge the image.

Contrary to what is suggested by the arms of the city of Campanet, the toponym "campanet" does not come from the word "campana" (bell) or the word "campaneta" (small bell).

The name Campanet is a Mozarabic word from late Latin "Capanna" amalgamated with the Arabic plural word "kapanät" refers to a group of shepherds’ huts.

Location

The town of Campanet is located away from the main road Ma-13, between Inca and Alcúdia.

The municipality of Campanet borders the municipalities of Pollença, Sa Pobla, Búger, Selva and Escorca.

Visits

The Church of the Immaculate Conception (Església de la Inmaculada Concepció / Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción)
The city tour of Campanet shows some old stately examples and examples of traditional folk architecture of the Serra de Tramuntana, clustered around the parish church on the Plaça Major. The parish church of the Immaculate Conception is located on a hill in the center of Campanet on the Plaça Major. It is a baroque church built in the eighteenth century, from 1717 to 1774 at the initiative of Father Miquel Martí Tamorer, the parish priest of St. Michael, the tomb of the priest at the center of the church near the choir. The building has a rather sober façade, decorated with a rosette. Inside we see two works: in the chapel of St. John the Baptist (Capella de Sant Joan Baptista) a sculpture of the Virgin in 1578, and in the chapel of the Saint Victory (Capella de Santa Victoria), the body of a soldier of the Roman catacombs, that of martyr Victorianus. This relic is a gift from Pope Pius VI to Cardinal Despuig, who donated to the parish in 1823.
The Church of St. Michael (Església de Sant Miquel / Iglesia de San Miguel)
The church of St. Michael (Ermita de Sant Miquel) in Campanet is one of the oldest churches in Mallorca : it was built by the Christian settlers shortly after the Catalan conquest of Majorca in 1229. According to tradition, the church was built on the site of a mosque, itself built on the site of an early Christian basilica. The church of Sant Miquel is mentioned in 1248, in a bull of Pope Innocent IV, as a parish church with jurisdiction over the villages of Campanet, Búger and Sa Pobla. In 1315 the seat of the parish was moved to Sa Pobla. In 1362, after the separation of the cities of Sa Pobla and Campanet, St. Michael’s church again became the seat of the parish, a reduced Campanet parish she remained until 1425, when a new church was built in the village center of Campanet, the location of the present church of the Immaculate Conception. A legend says that the cause of the movement of the seat of the parish were floods, which have destroyed, in 1425, a primitive village near Sant Miquel in Pla de Tel; historical archives exclude the existence of such a village and we know, moreover, that the construction of the new church began in Campanet from 1398. The real cause of the transfer of the seat of the parish was simply the distance between the village and the church of Sant Miquel, situated about two kilometers north of the village. In the fifteenth century, a bell tower was added near the main entrance. The church of St. Michael is a building early Gothic, with a single nave divided by diaphragm arches. Inside are two notable works: a central altar with a painting of St. Michael, dating from the late sixteenth century, and - on the right - a statue of Christ, placed below the altar of the Rosary (sixteenth century). Geographical coordinates: 39° 47’ 35” N, 2° 57’ 48” E
The Town Hall
From the Plaça Major, the Carrer Major leads to Sala Vella a sixteenth century building, which now houses the Town Hall of Campanet.
Fountain Pou d’en Gatell
The fountain Pou d’en Gatell, located at the entrance to the village from Selva, documented in the thirteenth century, was used until 1960 as a municipal source.
The Campanet Caves (Coves de Campanet / Cuevas de Campanet)
The Campanet Caves are the main attraction of the town of Campanet. They are located three kilometers north of the village, near the Ermita de Sant Miquel. Only discovered in 1945, they are renowned for their excellent state of preservation and the whiteness of their limestone formations. Go to Campanet Caves.
Springs Ufanes (Fonts Ufanes / Fuentes Ufanes)
The Ufanes springs are one of the most interesting of the hydrological Mallorca. At moderate rainfall, rainwater falling on the slope of Puig Tomir (1 104 m) seep into the soil and groundwater supply, but when more heavy or prolonged rainfall, the soil is saturated, because impermeable layers of clay that impede the movement of groundwater stormwater is then forced to flow to the surface. It is a phenomenon such as "spring of Vaucluse" by reference to the source of the Fontaine de Vaucluse, in southern France. This is intermittent, depending on the seed and disarming traps consist of karst cavities underground networks. When this occurs, the waters gush hot Fonts Ufanes - dramatically - in the midst of oak farm field Gabellí Petit. Waters Fonts Ufanes then grow over the river Sant Miquel, which flows through the plain of Sa Pobla before losing in the lagoon S’Albufera near Platja de Muro, on the north coast of the island. The flow of the river of Sant Miquel, which is average of 1 to 3 m³ / s, can reach up to 100 m³ / s. Since 2001, the Ufanes springs are declared "protected natural area" as a natural monument. In June 2005, the Government of the Balearic Islands has acquired 45 hectares of area Gabellí Petit to preserve the site and arrange to visit (up to about a thousand people per day attend the phenomenon occurs). The Fonts Ufanes are about 15 minutes walk from the church of Sant Miquel, taking a path along the first Torrent de Sant Miquel, then turns left towards Gabellí Petit.