Photographer: José Juan ‘Potti’ Luna – (CC BY-NC 2.0) Creative Commons
The municipal district of Santa Margalida lies on the Bay of Alcúdia in the north-east of Mallorca; it is characterised by its plains and it has 9km of coast, which includes beaches and sandbanks with some minor rock formations. There are numerous prehistoric remains from the Talayotic period throughout the district.
The village of Santa Margalida – known simply as La Vila by its residents – has its origins in the Moorish farmstead of Hiacht, which is where the first Christian monks from Catalonia (from the Monastery of Santa Margalida d´Empúries) established themselves. The successive reforms carried out to align the dispersed houses from the Middle Ages have meant that there are few houses with façades dating back before the 19th century. The square of La Plaça de la Vila is the nerve centre of village social life and is where the market and most festivals are held, as well as being where most of the bars and restaurants are located.
The parish church is the most outstanding building; it is situated on top of a hill in the area of what was the original centre of Santa Margalida in the 13th century, though the current building was built between the 16th and 17th centuries. Chronologically it belongs to the Baroque period, though its style has many Gothic features, which is common on Mallorca. It has a single nave with a cross-vault roof and six lateral chapels down each side. Inside are some Gothic paintings and a series of Baroque altarpieces. Behind the church there is a viewpoint which offers panoramic views over the local countryside.+