Palma de Mallorca (original) (raw)
Palma de Mallorca is the major city and port in the island of Majorca (in Spanish: Mallorca) and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It has around 320,000 inhabitants (1998), almost half of the total population of Majorca. It is situated on the south coast of the island on the Bay of Palma.
Historically, the city and island have been regularly invaded. The city prospered most greatly when it was the capital of the Kingdom of Majorca, a part of the Aragonese Crown, in the 13th and 14th centuries. Many of the most noted historic buildings in the city date from this period and show the characteristic Gothic style, notably the cathedral (built from 1230 to 1600) and the mixed Moorishish-Spanish style of the Palau de l'Almudaina.
The archipelago of Cabrera, though widely separated from Palma proper, is administratively considered part of the municipality.