Location: In the north-east

Access:
A 53 km-road links Alcúdia to Palma

Citizens: 15000

Museums: Museu Monogràfic de Pol•lèntia (Pollentia Monographical Museum), Carrer de Sant Jaume, 30. Museu Parroquial (Parish Museum), Plaça Jaume Ques, s/n.

 
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To begin with, the complex of Pollentia is worth mentioning. Although it dates from the Roman period, Pollentia shelters several Byzantine remains, and especially, a necropolis.

Other significant elements of the village are its medieval walls, commissioned by James II in 1298, although the works continued until 1362. The people of Alcudia themselves took charge of the building of the walls while the Genoese prisoners worked on the moat. The enclosure has an irregular, polygonal floor plan, made of sandstone mixed with mortar (sand, lime, and water). The 6.5 ft-wide wall stretches were strengthened by twenty-six 20 ft-high turrets. Especially remarkable are the gate of Majorca (or St. Sebastian), the Xara Gate (Gate of the Pier), and the Vila Roja Gate, a third one, which has not been preserved. Stylistically speaking, they are very similar since they have an access area in the central section with a voussoired semicircular arch and the side sections are made up of two towers. The Xara Gate has remains of a wooden door, which used to close the entrance. There is a second set of Renaissance walls, commissioned by Philip II and finished in 1660.

The St. Anne oratory, in front of Alcúdia’s municipal cemetery, on the road to Artà, is one of the village’s most characteristic buildings. It was built in the second half of the 13th century to take in Alcúdia’s population until the parish church of St. James was built. It is a typical resettlement church, with a centred access portal and a voussoired semicircular arch, which holds a gothic statue of the Virgin of Bonanova. The oratory has a pointed belfry, and a rectangular floor plan divided into four sections by three diaphragm arches, supporting the wooden, double-sloped roof. A barrel vault covers the apse, which resembles a niche. A stoup, claimed to be by Pere Morey (14th century) also stands out.

The current parish church is Neo-Gothic since the old church collapsed in 1870, though several medieval items have been preserved. Presiding over the high altar, within the baroque alterpiece is a 15th century polychrome wood carving depicting Christ. This venerated image that sweated water and blood, as we will comment below, is taken out on procession every three years. The Parish museum, added to the church, also has many objects that survived the church’s collapse, such as several religious ornaments, including a 15-16th-century chasuble, a 14th-century silver ciborium with geometric incisions, among which, the Star of David, Gothic choir chairs, and a set of Gothic paintings. One of these is the ancient retable from the St. Anne oratory, by Rafel Mòger, dated in the third quarter of the 15th century, depicting the Virgin and Child, St. Sebastian martyred by the arrows, and St. Bernardino of Siena. On the upper part, between the Calvary, the two towers of Alcúdia are visible. Another painting is that of St. Martin sharing his cloak with a pauper, by Joan Desí (ca. 1500). There are also two fragments of the predela in the Assumption retable depicting the Sleeping of the Virgin and the Apparition of the Assumption to St. Thomas, by Miquel d’Alcanyís (mid-15th century). There is also a 15th-century triptych of St. Peter, St. Andrew, and Sts. Cosmas and Damian, anonymous.

Also important is the old Saint James hospital, located at 30, Sant Jaume St., current seat of Pollentia’s Monographic Museum. It is a single-naved building, covered by a wooden beamed apex roof, and supported by two pointed arches. It was built during the 14th century to serve as hospital for the village’s poor people. The main facade shows a semicircular arch portal with a small stone cross on top, while, on the side of Church Street, there are three semicircular arch windows.

An important place in Alcúdia is St. Martin’s cave, located at the foot of the homonymous mountain, some 3 miles from the city. According to tradition, the first Christians who dwelled in the Roman city of Pollentia and its surroundings, used the cave as a sanctuary. However, it was not discovered until 1268. It can be accessed through a steep two-flight staircase that forms an acute angle to cover a fall of 40 ft. Inside is an old well and two small medieval altars at both sides dedicated to St. Martin and St. George. The construction works of these small chapels started in the 13th century, but the biggest boost was given during the second half of the 14th century. The two chapels can be reached through a semi-circular arch, with a cross-ribbed vault and a keystone at the ribs’ cross, though the chapel on the right, dedicated to St. George, is more modern than the other one (17th century). It was here that the Christ of Alcúdia sweated water and blood on February 24, 1507.

Finally, the last place of medieval interest is the Templars' Fort, whose remains can be found in a holm oak forest, on the property of Vernissa, close to the road leading from Palma to Alcúdia. These are the ruins of an old Templar construction.