Església de Sant Miquel de Palma, Gothic and Baroque parish church in central Palma, Spain
The Església de Sant Miquel is a church in Palma's old town with a single nave and side chapels. Its Gothic portal, begun in 1398 by sculptor Pere de Sant Joan, shows Ramon Llull at the upper left and a Virgin and Child with two angels in the tympanum. The square-based Gothic bell tower is crowned by a Mallorcan pyramid roof with a cross.
The building was constructed on the site of a former mosque and held its first Mass on December 31, 1229, shortly after King James I of Aragon's conquest. Over the following centuries, Gothic and Baroque elements were added, gradually transforming the structure's appearance.
The church holds the Santuari de la Mare de Déu de la Salut, venerated as patron saint of Palma. Her image, kept in the third chapel on the right, is said by tradition to have been brought to the island by King James I in the 13th century; a painting in the chapel depicts that arrival.
You can enter the church during daylight hours, ideally outside religious services when you can look around more freely. The entrance is at Carrer de Sant Miquel 21 in a central location, easily walkable from the main part of the city.
The high altarpiece by Francisco de Herrera shows Saint Michael defeating the devil, flanked by the archangels Gabriel and Raphael. In the third chapel on the right, a painting depicts the legend that James I brought the image of the Virgin of Health to Palma by galley in the 13th century.
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