Bellver Castle (Castell de Bellver)

Bellver Castle, the Castell de Bellver, is a round fortress on a pine-covered hill about three kilometres west of the centre of Palma, and it is one of Palma’s best-known monuments and a famous sight in Mallorca. It is unusual, since it is one of the very few castles in Europe with a circular plan, and the only one of its kind in Spain. It was built between about 1300 and 1311 for King James II of Mallorca, as a royal residence and a stronghold, to the designs of the architect Pere Salvà, in the Gothic style of the period, with Islamic echoes in its geometry. The name comes from Catalan, bell vèr, meaning a beautiful view, which describes the situation: from the terrace on the roof there is a wide panorama over the city, the bay, the port and the Mediterranean Sea.

The design is simple and clever. A circular wall surrounds a central courtyard, which is also round, and it is lined by two storeys of arches, with a round gallery on the ground floor and a second gallery above. Three round towers are built into the circle, and a fourth, a separate tower, stands slightly apart, joined to the main body by a high bridge. This detached tower was the keep, the last refuge, and it also served as a prison. The courtyard arches are graceful, and the rooms around them give the castle a more palatial character than the plain exterior suggests. The stone is golden, and the architecture is Gothic, though with a regularity that some scholars connect with the geometry of earlier styles.

The castle was a royal residence for a short time, since the kingdom of Mallorca was taken over by the Crown of Aragon in 1343, and it later became a fortress and then a state prison. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it held notable prisoners, among them the Spanish writer and statesman Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, who was held here in the early nineteenth century, and in the twentieth century it was used to confine prisoners during the Civil War. The building has been a heritage monument for many years and was restored.

Today the castle houses the City History Museum of Palma, the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat, which explains the development of the city from prehistoric times, and a collection of classical sculpture on the ground floor. Visitors can climb to the roof terrace and walk around the circuit of the walls. The views are the highlight, and they look down on the harbour with its ferries and yachts, the cathedral and the bay.

The castle is reached by bus from the centre of Palma, by taxi, or on foot through the surrounding forest of Bellver, a public park with paths, which makes a pleasant walk. A visit takes about an hour and a half. Opening hours and prices vary by season and day, so check ahead, and wear a hat in summer, since the terrace has no shade. The Cathedral and the Royal Palace of La Almudaina are in the old town.