La Catedral de Palma de Mallorca

Earlier this week, we split into two groups to visit the Cathedral of Palma.  Our expectations of what a Cathedral located on a Mediterranean Island might be like were blown away -- this Cathedral is massive! With over 6,000 square meters in area, it is bigger than Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and Notre Dame in Paris.  Its nave is one of the tallest in Europe, reaching 44 meters high.  It boasts the largest Gothic rosette (stained glass window) in the world, known as the "Ojo del gótico."  The cathedral is built so that on the summer and winter solstice, the sun shines through the rosettes at both the back and the front of the sanctuary at the same time to create a double rosette known as the Figure 8.  

Before we began our tour, students worked with a partner and text in Spanish to respond to questions about the history, the rosettes, the kings entombed in the mausoleum, the organ, and famous artists and architects that contributed to the building (Antoni Gaudí and Miguel Barceló, to name a few).  Once inside, students sought out the Capilla del Santísmo, with the controversial sea and marine life work of Barceló and compared it to the more traditional Capilla on the other side of the main altar.  The canopy created by Gaudí frames the shot of the group above.