Sóller - Sant Bartomeu

Mallorca is the largest island in the Mediterranean Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain. Mallorca is an extremely popular holiday destination. The Palma de Mallorca Airport, one of the busiest in Spain, is used by about 30 million tourists per year.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the island was invaded by the Vandals in 425. The time of the Vandals ended, when Byzantine troops general took the island in 534. The first Muslim arrivals were in 707. These ended the Byzantine domination and established their own hegemony. Until 903, the island was part of the Umayyad Caliphate.
From Between 902 and 1229 the island was under Islamic control. James I of Aragon ( aka "Jaume el Conqueridor") conquered Mallorca in December 1229.

Sóller lies in a large, bowl-shaped valley, surrounded by the Tramuntana mountain range. It was known for olive oil in Moorish times, but since the late 18th century mainly oranges and lemons are grown here in are large orchards. The town got very prosperous through the trade and keeps its grows today - through tourism.

The first church here got erected just after the Reconquista but already in 1370 the church became dilapidated and so the construction of a new church began, which was consecrated in 1492. After the attack by Turkish pirates in 1561 a kind of fortress was built around the church, so it could serve as a refuge. After the church became dilapidated again, the construction of a new church in baroque style began at the end of the 17th century. The walls of the fortress were partly used as the outer walls. The consecration took place in 1711, though it was not completed at that time.

The new facade, which was added from 1904 to 1912 according to plans by Gaudí's student Joan Rubió. It is in late Modernism/neo-Gothic forms, with a large rose window in the centre, flanked by two slender pinnacle towers.