Mallorca Travel: A Visit to Manacor and Porto Cristo
Brilliant weather greeted us again as we enjoyed
a nice breakfast on our spacious balcony in Palmanova.
After having spent the greater part of five days
exploring the wild northern coastline of Mallorca,
today we were going to explore some areas in the
south-eastern part of the island. We started driving
on the C719 highway towards Palma and then turned
on to the C715 highway going east.
The narrow streets of downtown Manacor, Mallorca's
second largest city
Mallorca is a very compact island, with the high
Tramuntana mountain range in the north, and smaller
mountains running along the eastern coastline of
the island. In the centre of the island is a flat
fertile plan called Es Pla, where lots of agricultural
produce is grown. Olive and almond groves also are
part of this scenery. Windmills power pumps that
pull water out of the ground to irrigate the farmland.
The Cathedral of Manacor
In less than one hour we had reached our first destination:
Manacor, Mallorca’s second largest town. It
is most well-known for its manufacture of furniture
and ceramics as well as the famous (artificial)
Mallorcan pearls. Maybe it is becoming even better
known for being the home town of tennis champion
Rafael Nadal. I was looking for reference to this
famous city resident, but surprisingly could not
find a single sign referring to “Rafa”.
An exterior look at the huge rose window of the
Cathedral of Manacor
Only a soccer stadium carried the name “Miguel
Angel Nadal Stadium”, named after the tennis
player’s famous soccer playing uncle. The
outskirts of the city have an almost industrial
feel to them. We parked our vehicle in the downtown
core and strolled through the downtown. Locals were
sitting, smoking and sipping coffee on some of the
patios on the cobble-stoned plaza, obviously a local
daytime ritual.
The impressive interior of the Cathedral of Manacor
Steps away is the cathedral of Manacor, Nostra Senyora
dels Dolors, an impressive Gothic-style church with
a minaret-style tower. It was built in the late
19th century on the site of a former mosque. A giant
rose window adorns the north façade of the
cathedral. Manacor itself is not a major tourist
destination, but just outside are the famous Caves
of Drach, one of Mallorca’s most important
tourist destinations. These caves house one of the
largest subterranean lakes in the world where visitors
can take a boat and see impressive limestone formations
up-close.
Rock formation at the beach of Porto Cristo
We stayed above-ground though and headed straight
east for about 10 minutes to Porto Cristo which
is located right on the eastern coastline of Mallorca.
Porto Cristo is an ancient fishing port and the
village has a scenic location at the end of a long
bay. On the north side a waterfront walkway takes
you up close to the rocky coastline while straight
east a sandy beach welcomes the visitors. The bay
is surrounded by bars, restaurants and souvenir
shops. The water shimmers in various shades of turquoise,
light and dark blue and provides a beautiful backdrop
to this picturesque town.
The scenic beach of Porto Cristo
After about an hour of basking in the sun and strolling
through town we started our drive back since a strange
attack of stomach flu gave me nausea and forced
me out of the sun. I spent the rest of the afternoon
laid up in our apartment in Palma Nova, unable to
go out in the sun, trying to calm down my stomach.
Fortunately I was able to watch the French Open
tennis tournament on our tiny little television
which kept me entertained. I tried to rest, hoping
that tomorrow would be a better day.
Beach impressions of Porto Cristo
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