20Oct2018
Hola, Palma de Mallorca!
Written byRenata Jirasova20 Oct. 2018Where to start exploring PALMA de Mallorca? Definitely from the roof terraces of the famous Gothic Roman Catholic Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma (also often called La Seu).
A little history and basic info…
The La Seu is one of the largest Gothic Cathedrals in Europe. The foundation stone of the future cathedral was laid in 1230 at the ruins of the Arab mosque. Like all other cathedrals, it wasn´t completed at the time of its creation, but it took several more centuries to finish the whole construction. In 1346 it was consecrated to the Virgin Mary and the Cathedral La Seu was completed in 1601.
During the earthquake in 1851, the western part of the cathedral collapsed and was restored during a major reconstruction in 1904-1914. Among others, the reconstruction was attended by the prominent Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.
It is difficult to take a photo of the exterior. The cathedral is so huge and streets around are narrow so you can´t take a photo from a longer distance.
Just in front of the main entrance door
The interior has a capacity of up to 18.000 people. The most renowned are the rosette windows, which let go inside the special color light. Thanks to this, the cathedral La Seu rightfully deserves the naming of the "cathedral of light".
The largest and most beautiful rosette window is made up of 1236 pieces of colored glass. The breathtaking spectacle, when “the play of lights” reaches perfection, occurs twice a year (2 February and 11 November). This light effect is called "La luz de Galileo" - "The Light of Galileo".
When and how to get to the terrace?
It is a guiding tour (you can´t go there individually) and you have to buy a ticket on-line in advance for a certain period of time on the website of cathedral.
To avoid crowds, the best period for visiting of terraces, is May or October (during winter, starting from November to April, terraces are closed). I´ve been there in October and we were just tree visitors (me and two Spanish ladies :-)) so it was a fantastically enjoyable private tour.
On the 2nd floor of the cathedral´s terrace with a guide. The interpretation was in Spanish and English.
After slightly demanding climb up the narrow spiral 210 stairs to the 3rd floor (every floor has 70 stairs), you will only say “WOW”! And after that you will stare at the whole historic part of the city in its full beauty and you can admire the original exterior of the top of cathedral from a short distance, too.
There are no glass or wire barriers on the terraces so you feel free and you can experience the special, unforgettable feeling that you can touch the sky :-).
The view from the 3rd floor on the lake and a bay is awesome when the weather is good (not too hot and not raining like right now, at the beginning of October)
On the 3rd floor of the terrace. The rosette window is made up of 1236 pieces of colored glass (glasses are red, green, blue, orange... and when you look through a coloured glass, you will see inside one more rosette in the color of the glass you are just looking at). 
The view on the 3rd floor on the city of Palma de Mallorca (next to the large rosette).
The view from a highest top of the Cathedral
This is Palma de Mallorca, baby!
On the 2nd floor
The terrase on the 3rd floor where you can walk. It is so impressive to see the beautiful exterior from the 13th to 16th century on the top and walk between (somewhere even above) the spires!
The view from the 2nd floor is also breathtaking!
On the 2nd floor
The terrace on the 2nd floor is huge and impressive. You feel here a "genius loci". I wanted to stay there forever. :-).
Just amazing the 2nd floor of the terrace
The stairs at the end of the 3rd floor are narrow. It is quite demanding to go up and then down, especially for a person who suffers from a motion sickness (unfortunately I know well what I am talking about :-)).
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