Sant Joan

By A. Mobo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Sant Joan is located in the district of Es Pla in Mallorca. The valleys of Sant Joan and Carrutuxa-Son Llendera make up most of a municipality characterised by flat lands, although several small hills, such as Puig de Sant Nofre, break up the plains and enrich the landscape. On this latter hill, situated within a protected natural area, are the remains of a fifteenth-century hermitage that can be visited.

The territory is predominantly made up of farms and the most important product in the area are the small typical tomatoes that are strung together and hung, an inheritance from Arab times, when garden farming was introduced. Wheat, almond trees, vineyards and pork breeding are the activities which sustain Sant Joan´s economy.

The village, structured around Alhamar, an Islamic farmhouse, offers peace and quiet and the traditional backwater air of the island´s inland villages. The parish church is modern, although vestiges of earlier fifteenth and eighteenth churches remain. Other interesting elements of religious architecture in Sant Joan are the Catholic Centre, built in the early twentieth century, and the Sanctuary of la Mare de Déu de Consolació, which dates from the thirteenth century. The modernist building of Escola des Nines, windmills and crosses are reminders of times gone by.

Lastly, a stroll around Els Calderers farm, shall introduce visitors to thirteenth-century rural life in Mallorca and completes the wealth of heritage of this municipality.