About this place
The Cathedral of Santa María, universally known as La Seu, is the towering symbol of Palma, a colossal Gothic masterpiece built dramatically on the seafront where its golden sandstone seems to rise straight from the water. Begun in 1229, after King James the First of Aragon conquered Mallorca from the Moors, it was built over the island's main mosque and took centuries to complete. It boasts one of the tallest Gothic naves in Europe and an immense rose window, the Ull del Gòtic, the Eye of the Gothic, among the largest in the world, which scatters coloured light across the interior. In the early twentieth century the great architect Antoni Gaudí was called in to modernise the interior, creating a dramatic wrought-iron canopy over the altar. More recently, the artist Miquel Barceló transformed a side chapel with an extraordinary, visceral ceramic wall evoking the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
Key facts
- 1229 year — Construction began after James I conquered Mallorca, on the site of the main mosque
- 1 rose window — Its vast rose window is among the largest in the Gothic world
- 44 metres — The soaring main nave is among the tallest of any Gothic cathedral
📍 Carrer del Mirador 1, 07001, Palma