In the medieval centres of European cities, there is not a single space that hasn’t borne witness to some memorable event: brawls, crimes, betrayals, impossible loves, duels, or fleeting glances have taken place —and still do— in every corner.
Today, the Plaça Major in Palma is a vast open space, but two centuries ago it was home to a dense network of narrow alleyways and small squares. This intricate layout was formed over more than a thousand years and witnessed countless episodes. Most of these were lost when their protagonists took them to the grave, but some have been recorded in documents that rest in the archives.
Map of Palma (1644). Antonio Garau.
The opening of Plaça Major in 1823 swept away those ancient streets and houses, as well as landmarks of history. For example, we know that here, in a house on one of these labyrinthine alleyways, the most influential philosopher of medieval Europe, Ramon Llull, was born around 1232. And in 1593, during the reign of Isabel I and Fernando II in Castile and Aragon, a massive building was constructed: the so-called Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition, where New Christians, supposedly converts, accused of secretly practising their Jewish or Muslim religion, were tried and executed. Diego Zaforteza recounts in his book La Ciudad de Mallorca (The City of Mallorca): The building of this institution was a magnificent rectangular structure, with a large colonnaded courtyard at its centre, located on the left-hand side when entering from the street of Sant Miquel, via Bosseria. It had a frontage of six hundred and eighty-eight spans, reaching, at the back, the present-day Costa del Teatre. That is, it occupied roughly the western half of the current plaza.
Inquisition was abolished in 1813 by the Cortes of Cádiz, and this enormous building was demolished in 1823 with the aim of opening Plaça Major and planning to establish the new fish market there, which had previously occupied the unhealthy space of the Plaça del Rastrillo. Adjacent to the Inquisition building was the Convent de Sant Felip Neri, which was expropriated in 1836 —following the policy of plundering Church property initiated by Minister Mendizábal— and demolished in 1854, while the monks of Sant Felip fled to occupy the nearby Convent dels Trinitaris, which has since been known as the Convent de Sant Felip Neri.
The opening of the plaza began in 1866, and by 1898 the initial project was expanded to resolve the junction with the streets Colom and Sindicat. At the beginning of the 20th century, Plaça Major hosted the city’s food market, replacing the one that had previously been held in Plaça de Santa Eulàlia or, since the Muslim period, in Plaça des Mercat. This market, consisting of stalls, remained in place during the early decades of the 20th century until, in the 1940s, the Mercat de l’Olivar was built, where another convent of nuns had once stood.
Plaça Major then became a landscaped square. It still hosts the Santa Lucía Christmas market, where one can buy the distinctive handcrafted terracotta figurines for Mallorcan nativity scenes. But in the 1970s, the square underwent another major transformation. It was completely excavated —cut open from end to end— digging down below the level of la Rambla to make way for a four-storey public car park, with a narrow commercial area on its top floor. This square, therefore, has endured dramatic changes. It emerged by slicing through the medieval fabric of the city, at the same time as the streets of Colom and Conquistador were opened —the latter following the demolition of the old Dominican convent and its magnificent Gothic church.
The future Plaça Major of Palma. Image: barcelóbalanzóarquitectes | scob.
Today, after a design competition, the square is preparing for its latest chapter. The winning proposal offers an ingenious solution that will likely greatly improve its current state. A sunken cloister is set to appear reminiscent of London’s Covent Garden—allowing vertical light to reach the lower level, which will lose its sense of confinement and, in turn, open up horizontally onto la Rambla. The concept seems sound, and its execution is expected to improve and finally consolidate this space with its turbulent history.
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