Algaida

History

There is evidence conserved of the population in the area of the pre-Talaiotic period, human remains found in the caves of Son Reus, and Talaiotic evidence such as the walled town of sa Serra-Punxuat. In the period of the Arabic domination, it belonged to the district of Muntuy. In those days, the farmhouses already existed which were to give way to the present day nucleus of the population. These farmhouses were located near to the proximity of water courses in order to take advantage of the most fertile soils. To irrigate the land, the Arabians built a hydraulic under frame system, the most outstanding of which is the subterranean canal of Son Reus de Randa of 299,8 metres in length, the longest in Mallorca.

Originally the town was known with the name of Castellitx, name of the parish situated in the estate of the same name and which was the first to be built after the conquest and which about the year 1410 the legal title to the property was changed to that of the church of Algaida.

Places of interest

Between the municipalities of Algaida and Llucmajor, there is the mountain of Randa where the Hermit of Sant Honorat can be found, as well as the sanctuary of our Lady of Gràcia and the Sanctuary of our Lady of Cura. To reach the mountain, it is necessary to go to the small village of Randa, at the foot of the small mountain of the same name and follow the road which leads to the crest of the mountain and which has the name of Puig de Cura.

First of all we find the sanctuary known as Santuario de Nostra Senyora de Gràcia, which has its origin in the cave of s'Aresta where in the middle of the XV two Franciscan monks began to live and who converted it into a hermit. Further on, the Hermit of Sant Honorat is to be found. Arnau Desbrull, a gentleman of noble origin who had chosen the life of a hermit, solicited in the year 1394 from the Bishop of Mallorca, after having lived thirty years in the mountain, permission to build the chapel of Sant Honorat. Finally, the sanctuary of the name Santuario de Nostra Senyora de Cura, is to be found. It is situated on the crest called the Puig de Cura, at a height of 548 metres. The Puig de Cura is the highest point of the small mountain of Randa and is an excellent place for overlooking the island of Mallorca. It was here that Ramon Llull lived during a time around about the year 1273 and where in the XV century a school was founded to spread the Llull doctrine. This in turn originated the ‘Estudio General’ of Palma de Mallorca and later incorporating , in the same building, the Aula de Gramática (grammar), where at one time there were as many as 150 pupils studying there that lived together in the Sanctuary.