Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca or La Seu
The idea of
seeing it again filed my heart with excitement and I felt like a little child
while I was getting dressed. It was our first day of vacation. When we got out
of the hotel the salty smell of the sea breeze hit us in the face, the light
and the sunlight surrounded us and felt peasant on out skin. We went into the
bus and headed for Palma town. I stuck my head in the window and waited
impatiently for the one thing I most wanted to see. We passed long fields
filled with green palm trees, red rhododendrons and white houses. Then the bus
entered Palma and my hearth started pounding waiting to see it behind any
building. And then suddenly it appeared in front of our eyes, majestic and
splendid. The Cathedral of Mallorca or Catedral de Mallorca or La Seu. Built on
the beach of the Palma city the La Seu is one of the biggest, most impressive
and beautiful churches I have ever seen.
For me the cathedral has become one of the dearest churches, as Palma de
Mallorca has become one of our dearest vacation destinations. Catedral de
Mallorca is the symbol of Palma and it’s the first thing we see when entering
the city and from the plane’s window when we land in Palma. It is build from
Majorcan sandstone and the color of the stones gives it a special beauty. To me it looks like a sand castle on the big,
beautiful and fragile. The building of the cathedral started in 1306 under King
James II and lasted 3 centuries until 1601. Since then it has been restored and
improved by architects and artists like Juan B. Peyronet, Antoni Gaudi and
Miguel Barcelo.
La Seu Cathedral
We step
down from the bus and we cross the Parc de la Mar admiring the beautiful
artificial lake and fountain in front of the cathedral. We walk slowly in the
park and admire the church from all possible angles. We look at the beautiful
towers, the sand color walls, the statues and the two amazing rose windows, one
in the front of the church over the main large door and one in the back of the
church.
La Seu Cathedral from the Parc de la Mar
Parc de la Mar
Then we climb the stairs. The view from the cliff where the church is
build is amazing. You can see the whole Parc de la Mar, the sea and the harbor.
White ships and sailboat float over the perfect blue sparkling water. The cathedral stands on cliff and is bathed
in sunlight.
View of Parc de la Mar
We walk around the church and we admire the walls of the church
and the status close by. On the side of the church facing the sea we find one
of the three doors of the church called the Mirador or the Door of the
Apostles. That is because just above the wooden door there is beys-relief with
the Last supper. Above the base-relief there are two more arches with stone
flowers and then it ends in a beautiful triangular structure.
Mirador entrance facing the sea
We continue to walk around the
church and we come face to face with the most beautiful church door we have
ever seen, the door placed under the rose window, The Portal Mayor. Above the
wooden door there is a wonderful statue of the crowned Saint Mary and around
her a lot of symbols in base-relief representing her. Beautiful statues and
arches surround her. Above her high up there is the rose window, one of the
most beautiful and biggest I have ever seen in my whole life. It amazes you
with its beauty and the delicate stone flowers which form it.
We walk slowly to
the last door, the Alms door and the simplest from all three. This is the door
on which the believers enter for the mass and it is near the entrance for the
tourists.
Entrance to the Cathedral
We stay in
a long queue and then we enter first the museum filled with relics,
chandeliers, tombs of famous bishops, chalices, crucifixes and other beautiful
religious artifacts and clothes. And
then we enter the church. For the first minutes I am always silent. I am
mesmerized by the hugeness and the majesty of it. There is so much space and it
is always cool inside no matter how hot it is inside. It is always quiet, no
matter how many tourists are inside and a sense of peace fills me each time I
enter. The cathedral has three naves and rows and rows of wooden pews that can
hold hundreds of believers. I sit in the pew and I pray, then I admire the
walls and the altars and all the beauty of the church with leaves me speechless
and dreamy.
Inside the church
When I am inside of La Seu I understand perfectly why it is called
the Cathedral of Light. The beautiful, warm Mediterranean light which bathes
the church from the outside floods also the interior through the many colored
stained glass windows, 87 windows along the walls and 8 rose windows above the
main altar and on the wall from the back of the church. The light comes through
the colored windows, representing images from the bible and millions of colored
patches of light in the air of the church, on the walls and on the marble
ground.
Rose windows above the altar
Rose window on the back of the church
Light floods the church through the rose windows
Stained glass windows
The rose window above the altar
Colored light falling on the marble floors
The most
beautiful thing about this place and the one I didn’t manage to experience so
far happens only two times a year on 2nd of February and 11 November
and it refers to the two main rose windows in the church: the one above the
altar and the one on the back wall of the church. On this day at a specific
hour the light coming through the main rose window reflects itself exactly
under the rose window on the back wall creating a perfect eight of unbelievable
colors. I wish I could see that, I wish I could have a picture of that
phenomenon.
From the
windows I turn my face to the three altars which are dedicated to the
Eucharist. In the mail altar, the bigger one in the center of the church is the
place where the Eucharist is celebrated when mass takes place. There is the
table where the priest celebrated the bread and wine, the place for the choir,
the chairs for the priests and ministrants and a baldachin over the all of
this. Over this main altar reins the main rose window and smaller ones around
it.
Rose window over the main altar
Main altar
Main altar
The altar
on the left represents the Last supper, where our Lord Jesus presented the
Eucharist for the first time. This altar is classical and beautiful, in the
baroque style, full of statues and base-reliefs and golden decorations.
The Last supper altar
The Last supper altar
The altar
on the right is kind of too ultra modern for my taste but somehow I understand
what attracts people to like it. In the center there is the image of Christ in
base-relief, in is left o him the wall looks like the bottom of the sea full of
fish, on his right it is represented the earth with all its riches.
Modern altar
The fruits of the sea
The fruits of the Earth
The fruits of the Earth
After I
recollected my thoughts I start walking around the church admiring the many,
many chapels around it dedicated to different saints or stages from our Lords
life. My favorite chapel is also the only one which I open for prayer. It is
the one dedicated to the crowned Virgin Mary. There I enter every time and
kneel if from of the Virgin and pray. This is how I prayed two years ago to
help me have a child and on the way back to Bratislava I was already pregnant
with my baby. This time I go inside and thank her from the bottom of my heart.
Chapel
There are also many paintings, my favorite being the one in which Peter is presented the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Then there are the dark wood confessionals, the baptismal font, the organ on the wall and many, many other small decorations.
The confession of Peter
Organ
Slowly we go out into the small square with a fountain in the middle. The bright light outside blind you for a minute and you feel like you came out of a dream. You need to sit a second and rest after the visit. Then you enter the souvenir shop where there are books about Mallorca and the church, silly souvenir, postcards, rosaries and crucifixes. We always buy postcards or a rosary I like or some book or other souvenirs we like.
Exit from the Catheddral
We go out with our shopping and we step down the stairs to a beautiful small artificial green lake where swans are floating. We rest again and make pictures.
Artificial lake in front of the church
Then we pass a beautiful park full of trees and artificial fountains in front of the cathedral and we find ourselves engulfed again into the city rush of Palma de Mallorca, back to reality. It has been a wonderful visit, like usual.
Park in front of the Cathedral
Back in busy Palma
There are also many paintings, my favorite being the one in which Peter is presented the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Then there are the dark wood confessionals, the baptismal font, the organ on the wall and many, many other small decorations.
Slowly we go out into the small square with a fountain in the middle. The bright light outside blind you for a minute and you feel like you came out of a dream. You need to sit a second and rest after the visit. Then you enter the souvenir shop where there are books about Mallorca and the church, silly souvenir, postcards, rosaries and crucifixes. We always buy postcards or a rosary I like or some book or other souvenirs we like.
We go out with our shopping and we step down the stairs to a beautiful small artificial green lake where swans are floating. We rest again and make pictures.
Then we pass a beautiful park full of trees and artificial fountains in front of the cathedral and we find ourselves engulfed again into the city rush of Palma de Mallorca, back to reality. It has been a wonderful visit, like usual.
Comments
Post a Comment