Capdepera
Encyclopedia
Capdepera is a small municipality
on Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands
, Spain
.
Capdepera is a historical village just 8 km from Artà
. Originally there had been a watchtower where the castle stands today which was used to guard the coast. In 1300 James II of Aragon
ordered the construction of a fortified village which would control the uninhabited land below and the maritime routes with Majorca.
For centuries the town survived behind its walls protected from pirate attacks. As the danger of such attacks disappeared residents of the walled town started to relocate themselves at the bottom of the 162m hill which lead to the development of modern day Capdepera. The better known town of nearby Cala Ratjada actually developed as the fishing and trading port of Capdepera and to this day operates a ferry service with neighbouring Minorca
.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
on Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
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Capdepera is a historical village just 8 km from Artà
Artà
Artà is one of the 53 independent municipalities on the Spanish Balearic island of Majorca. The small town of the same name is the administrative seat of this municipality in the region of Llevant.- Population :...
. Originally there had been a watchtower where the castle stands today which was used to guard the coast. In 1300 James II of Aragon
James II of Aragon
James II , called the Just was the King of Sicily from 1285 to 1296 and King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. In 1297 he was granted the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica...
ordered the construction of a fortified village which would control the uninhabited land below and the maritime routes with Majorca.
For centuries the town survived behind its walls protected from pirate attacks. As the danger of such attacks disappeared residents of the walled town started to relocate themselves at the bottom of the 162m hill which lead to the development of modern day Capdepera. The better known town of nearby Cala Ratjada actually developed as the fishing and trading port of Capdepera and to this day operates a ferry service with neighbouring Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
.