Located in the district of Es Pla, Ariany is a small municipality whose main activity revolves even today around agriculture. Settled since pre-historic times, the municipality´s name originated from the Arab farmstead called Arian.
In 1717, Philip V bestowed a marquisate upon his Lordship of Ariany to thus show his gratitude for the loyalty of the Cotoner family during the Spanish War of Succession. Owner of the lands of Ariany since the sixteenth century, the Cotoner family financed the construction of the church of Nostra Senyora d´Atotxa, set on an ancient sixteenth-century oratory.
Good examples of the municipality´s heritage are the village, crosses and windmills, which were still in use until the first decades of the twentieth century, that sprung up around S´Auberg, a country estate.
The large water reservoir called S´Aljub, with its capacity of over 800,000 litres, merits special mention, as do the Bo and Jurà wells, which can be found on the stone-paved Sa Marquesa road.
Member of the Commonwealth of Es Pla in Mallorca, the municipality of Ariany broke off from Petra in 1982 and became an independent municipality.