Basilica of Sant Francesc

In front of you rises Sant Francesc, one of Palma's great Gothic churches. Its smooth façade, almost a blank wall, looks like a fortress, yet in the middle it bursts into a Baroque doorway full of figures.

1A royal project

Building began in 1281 with the support of the future James II, and the vault took a century to close. The present façade dates from the 17th century, with the great rose window and a Baroque doorway whose tympanum teems with figures. The trapezoid-shaped cloister was built between the 14th and 16th centuries and is one of the most beautiful on the island.

2Ramon Llull

Inside lies Ramon Llull, born in Palma around 1232 and died in 1316. He was a philosopher, mystic, missionary and one of the first great writers in the Catalan language. His tomb, with a recumbent effigy, is in a chapel of the ambulatory. His influence was such that Palma had a Lullian university devoted to his thought.

3The friar in the square

The statue in the square depicts Junípero Serra, born in Petra in 1713. He studied and taught in Palma before leaving for the Americas, where he founded the first missions in California. Today he is viewed in very different ways: for some he was a tireless evangelist; for many Native peoples, the symbol of a painful colonisation.

One place brings together two Mallorcans known around the world.

Visits to the church and cloister usually require a ticket outside service times.

4What to look for

• The rose window in the centre of the façade.
• Saint George on horseback, between the doorway and the rose window.
• The statue of Junípero Serra, facing the church.