Pollenca Villas – Travel Guide
El Calvari
A pause for coffee and pastries is recommended before climbing the tree lined Calvari steps, 365 of them, – one for every day of the year -, but you will be amply rewarded at the summit. Take in the panoramic views over the town and across to the northernmost tip of the island. You will find a viewing platform near the church, the Mirador del Calvari.
During Easter, the steps and the church square on the top of the hill turn into a stage for a moving re-enacting of the crucifixion, and a sombre procession. A wooden figure of Jesus is removed from the cross and carried down the steps by torchlight.
Women dress in black and wear traditional lace veils, while members of religious brotherhoods (cofradías), taking part in Holy Week processions to express penitence, are dressed in ’capirotes’ (tall, pointy, conical hoods), covering their faces. This is intended as a symbolic representation of penance and mortification without seeking personal glory or recognition.
The rather eerie and sinister looking hoods inevitably raise questions, but there is in fact no connection between the 16th century Spanish brotherhoods and the American white supremacist hate organisation. It is believed that their disguise is based on costumes featured in a silent film, which became widely popular in parts of the United States in the early 20th century.
The months of August and September have much to offer music lovers, as Pollenca hosts its annual classical music festival with many concerts performed in the atmospheric Cloister of Sant Domingo de Pollença. Since the first Festival de Pollença, held in 1962 at the initiative of the famous English violinist Philip Newman, more than 800 first-rate artists have performed at this event.
Vall de Pollenca, Mallorca
The old road, through the beautiful Vall de Pollenca winds some 6 miles between the Pollenca Hills and the towering Tramuntana Mountains, connecting the picturesque Old Town of Pollenca with Campanet. These days the road, now surpassed by the faster motorway, is used mostly by cyclists rather than vehicular traffic.
The pretty church square in thes charming village of Campanet is the ideal place for a coffee break, before or after visiting the Coves de Campanet, the amazing nearby limestone caves, said to house the longest stalactite in the world!
Singled out for its beauty by the rich and famous, the hillsides around Pollença are discreetly scattered with luxury properties, amongst them many of our most attractive Pollenca Villas, tucked away and enjoying this unsurpassed location.
Pollenca also makes an excellent starting point for an exhilarating drive to the Santuari de Lluc, the impressive 13th century mountain top monastery.
According to legend, […] “after the conquest of Mallorca (1229), a shepherd boy and a monk who lived in the forest of Lluc discovered a stone image of the Virgin Mary, who appeared at the top of the small mound next to the sanctuary called ‘Pujol de la Trobada’. They picked her up and took her to the parish church in the municipality of Escorca. Miraculously, the Holy Figure disappeared from the place where it had been taken, only to reappear at the site of its first manifestation. […]
The Virgin’s will was to remain in the same place of the miraculous and the locals decided to build a chapel in her honour, the seed of the current sanctuary of Santa Maria de Lluc. […]”
and then