Guided Walk of Alcudia Old Town

Welcome along and thank you for joining this guided walk of Alcudia Old Town.

My name is Matthew, I work for NoFrills Excursions and I will be your guide today, during our time today I hope to show you some of the old town’s most iconic landmarks and fill you in with a bit of history about everything.

Porta del Moll

We start our walk here at the Porta del Moll, one of three entrances to the historical centre.

This gateway forms just one part of the many fortifications surrounding the old town of Alcudia, of which were built in the Medieval period by King Jaume II as a defence system against possible invasions.
For that reason we can still find to this very day a total of 26 towers.
One of which we will be able to see on our next stop.

Walk along the top of the walls

We will now take the stairs to our right so we can reach the top of the walls.
From up here we get a stunning view over the bays of Pollensa and Alcudia and the wide open countryside of Mallorca.
And just down there below is the bullring which is over 100 years old, but today there aren’t many real bull fights if not just mock-ups for tourists. You can visit the bullring at your own leisure however a small fee does apply to enter.

Renaissance Fortification

These walls to our right now weren’t actually built during medieval times but rather during the Renaissance period. They were a second set of walls built to reinforce the already existing ones. They were finished around about 1660 during the reign of Felipe IV.
The walls withstood the waging wars but in fact it was in 1871 when they were demolished by the city council for drainage work. What remained of them were declared a Historical-Artistic Monument and consequently were restored during the 20th century.

The town hall

As we journey down towards the town hall, to your right you can see the Porta de Mallorca which is one of the other entrances to the historical centre.
We are now in the Constitution Square and just over here is the town hall. Also called “La Sala” it was built in 1929 by the architect Charles Garau and since then has housed the various departments of the city council.

Church of Sant Jaume

Our next stop is a very interesting one, being that of the Church of Sant Jaume.

It was constructed in the 19th century to replace a previously collapsed gothic church in the 14th Century. All that remains of the previous one is the Sant Crist Chapel and a Baroque altarpiece.

Once we go inside it’s worth taking a look at the very gothic statue Sant Crist. According to tradition in 1507 villagers believed the statue shed blood, and to this day on the 26th July every three years the locals worship this with a procession through the old streets as a sign of devotion.

In two rooms to the right holds the Parish museum which is quite popular with visitors.

Roman city of Pol·lentia

Over the centuries Alcudia old town has revealed a lot of its past and history.

One of which is definitely not to be missed, during the fifties major excavation work took place and it uncovered just part of a Roman city.
That of course is just over the road to our right in a now preserved site. Admission here is a nominal fee but well worth it. Archaeologists have determined the sites origins from around 123 BC. So far there’s been roads, a group of houses, a theatre and a forum all found. During the last two weeks of July the council organises digs to continue the ongoing excavation work.

C’an Torro Library

Let us now go up “Carrer d’en Serra” where just here in front of us is the library of C’an Torro. This very aristocratic building architecture-wise was built in 1990 and is classified as one of the most modern libraries of the Balearic Islands, housing two floors of various sections and also a wide courtyard. It is in short, a place for culture and communication without forgetting the entertainment and recreational aspects.

Market and back to Porta de Mallorca

We are now back to where we began at the Porta de Mallorca, and our guided walk has come to an end. I hope you have been able to soak up a bit of Alcudia’s history.
A suggestion now is to take stroll through our market and see some of our fine local produce.