The Patios Tour in Palma
The "patios" in the Palma stately homes, from monumental beauty and lavish impressions, make up a unique architectural space where time stops and life appears, capable of atracting and surprising the eye of their visitors. The historic centres are architectural redoubts which bring to mind a refined and cultured Majorca with its own personality.
The "patios" of the Palma stately homes make up a unique architectural space, with its own, different aesthetics without which the old centre would lose its identity which characterises it. That is why Palma is above all a city of patios.
These semi-public places were marked by a social and even economic life. The Palma "patios", above all those which belonged to private families (Most of them), have today become inaccessible to pedestrians, this being the main sad thing that this century has given to the history of the patios. Some have railings that allow contemplation from the street and only those buildings that have been turned into museums, cultural foundations or diverse civic centres can be visited without restriction.
This is the reason that in this itinerary around the Stately Palma, we will only highlight those patios that can be visited or observed easily. This visit will take us to the small back streets with the highest historic lineage in Palma. The seats of noble families, properties of influential names within the Palma bourgeoisie where many of these small palaces from the XVI,XVII and XVIII centuries are still inhabited.
The Palma patios are a result of the evolution through the history which began in roman times, coming to a fore in the XIII century and reaching its peak in the XVII and XVIII centuries after reforming the main Palma stately homes of the era in the renaissance style of the that time.
Due to the darkness caused by the amount of narrow streets that the old part of the city of Palma de Majorca is famous for, the houses were built with an interior patio to function as a skylight and around it the whole house was erected. The house became an element of social prestige that showed the importance of each family and its social standing. One of the most important aspects of these patios is the stairway that increases the grandiose effect of the stately home.
The social role of the used to offer water and shade during the summers and shelter from the rain and a play area for the children and an open air discussion area for the adults. The "patios" played an important role in the social life in Palma, they were even used to announce an important event, if the gate was left ajar it meant that one of the residents had died, later the clothes and personal possessions of the deceased were auctioned off. This custom was maintained until the end of the XVIII century, as they were semi-public places that the neighbours used freely and without having to ask the owner permission. If on the other hand the gates were wide open and decorated with plants and flowers, it announced the birth of a child.
