Pollença is a town and municipality

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...

 situated in the far north corner of the island of Majorca, near Cap de Formentor

Cap de Formentor

Cap de Formentor forms the eastern end of Majorca's Formentor peninsula. The Majorcans also call the cape the Meeting point of the winds.-Location:...

 and Alcúdia

Alcúdia

Alcúdia is a municipality and township of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands.It is the main tourist centre in the North of Majorca. It is a large resort popular with families.Most of the hotels are located in Port d'Alcúdia and Platja d'Alcúdia along the 14 km long beach that...

. It lies about 6 km west of its port, Port de Pollença

Port de Pollença

Port de Pollença is a small town in north-eastern Mallorca, Spain, situated on the Bay of Pollença. It is located about six kilometres east of the inland town of Pollença and two kilometres southeast of Cala Sant Vicenç....

.

History

The name "Pollença" comes from the name of the Roman settlement of "Pollentia," the excavated remains of which lie several kilometers away in the modern municipality of Alcúdia. It was founded by the Catalans in the 13th century around 6 km from the coast in an effort to avoid pirate attacks.

Main sights

Most houses were built in the 17th and 18th centuries and many streets are very narrow and compact, a leftover from the medieval era. The central square, called Plaça Major, has numerous outdoor cafés and is dominated by a large 13th century church Esglèsia de Nostra Senyora dels Àngels (Our Lady of the Angels) which was built by the Knights Templar

Knights Templar

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

.

One of the town's most distinctive features is the 365-step stairway north of the square; this leads up to a chapel on top of the hill known as Calvary. On Good Friday

Good Friday

Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...

 this is the setting for the most dramatic parade of the year. First, on the road winding up the back of the hill, there is an enactment of the Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...

. This is followed by a mock crucifixion on top of the hill after which the figure of Christ is ceremonially removed from the Cross. There is a sombre, torchlit parading of the body of Christ through the town it is led by hundreds people in cloaks, masks and pointed hats and done in total silence save for the slow beating of a drum.

The town also has an ancient bridge of Roman design that crosses a torrent to the north of town.

External links

• Video of El Pi de Ternelles (January, 17th)
• SOM POLLENÇA, tourist municipality
• video of El Pino event(The Pine)
• The Roman City of Pollentia
• Pollensa and Puerto Pollensa