Described by Lonely Planet as the ‘star of the Mediterranean’, Mallorca is a beautiful island full of culture, history and exuberant landscapes, all waiting to be discovered. Mallorca is a destination that is rapidly becoming more popular every year, and it is easy to see why! This beautiful island has everything one could ask for. From picturesque historical towns like Alcudia, to lively and bustling cities like Palma, Mallorca has something for everyone. While Mallorca is known for its nightlife, beaches and attractive views, the island has so much more to offer its visitors, and is full of hidden gems that have not been disturbed.
The Farm La Granja
The farm La Granja is an old farm in the Serra da Tramuntana. Due to its location near a clear rock spring, the Arabs settled here for agricultural use over a thousand years ago. The huge area of washing houses, stables, workshops, gardens, cellars and an imposing manor house is open to the public. At La Granja you can experience the pleasures of rural life and learn how people traditionally lived in Mallorca in previous centuries.
How did the simple and aristocratic Mallorcan live in the country? How were trades practiced? What plants were grown, what animals were kept? How did the population spend their time, how did they live together? These and many other questions can be answered by visiting La Granja. Today, much thought is given to sustainability, resource use and ecological management. At La Granja you can see how this worked in the past. The entrance fee gives you the right to roam freely through the spacious building, its annexes and gardens.
La Granja is a small state in its own right, bringing together everything necessary for an independent and comfortable life. A signposted circular path will guide you as you pass through the two-storey manor house. It is impressive to see the prosperity that has been achieved through the cultivation of the land. You will see the living room furnished in Florentine style and a throne room with a theatre stage. The Arab architectural elements point to the period of occupation from the 10th to the 13th century. The Arab tower served as a hermitage for the Cistercian monks.
A state of its own from the dyeing works to the torture chamber
The Farm is composed of more than 50 buildings and farm buildings. There is an oil mill, a dry cleaner’s, a shoe workshop, a pottery workshop, a distillery, even a fully equipped historic dental clinic. A smithy, a sewing workshop, carpentry and turnery completed La Granja’s self-supply. The wine cellar was not to be missed either. To complete independence, justice was also administered at La Granja. A sad testimony of the feudal importance is a well-equipped torture cellar, which today is one of the scariest places for tourists.
After the guided tour you can relax on a sunbed in the shady courtyard of La Granja. An excursion to the culinary delights completes the trip to the real Mallorcan rural life. A free tasting session will help you discover the potential of the island’s wine. Delicacies such as sobrassada, the legendary sausage made from Mallorca’s black pig, are served with it. You can try fig, pumpkin, apricot and orange jams and bite into the delicious fresh oil cakes of the Bunyoles. Of course you can buy all these delicacies and much more in the farm shop.
A visit to La Granja is like a trip to a state in itself. Nowhere else can you experience so vividly the independence with which aristocratic and non-aristocratic Mallorcans lived in the countryside in earlier times. And what prosperity could be obtained from an agriculture that uses all resources.
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