Artà

Sister cities

• Totogalpa
• Os de Balaguer
• Hinojosa del Valle

History

Artà was first mentioned in 1232 under the name Yartân in the Llibre de repartiment de mallorca (Jaume I). Later it was also written down as Jartan or Jertan. The origin of the name is derived from "Gertan", the Arab word for garden. This extraordinary landscape has been inhabited since the colonization of Mallorca, as witnessed by the archaeological finds in this area:Ses Païsses and Sa Canova. They date from the time 1300–100 BC. The coins, seals and vessels of the Talaiotic culture may be seen in the Artà Regional Museum at Plaça d'Espanya. Little is known about the Artà region from the Roman or pre-Islamic period. It is believed, however, that the old fortress on the town's hill dates to before the Islamic-Arab possession of the island. In the Arabian era from the 10th to the 13th century and even during the early days of Catalan rule, the fortress was known as the Almudaina, which means something like "castle" or "fortress". Today the one-meter thick fortress wall with its nine towers, including the main tower of Sant Miquel, surrounds the pilgrimage church of Santuari de Sant Salvador with its outbuildings. The church houses a multicoloured, carved, wooden, Romanesque statue of the Virgin Mary, which, according to the tradition of the White canons was brought to the island by James I during the conquest of Majorca. A Calvary staircase of 180 steps links the parish church (Esglèsia Parroquial) of Transfiguració del Senyor at the foot of the town's hill with the 1832 baroque church of Sant Salvador on the 182-metre high Calvary Hill or Puig de Sant Salvador. The 1573 late Gothic style church of La Transfiguració replaced the ancient parish church consecrated in 1248 on the site of an earlier mosque. During the Arab or Moorish era the peninsula of Yartan…

Geography

Artà lies in the northeast of the island of Mallorca, around 60 km from the island's capital of Palma. The Massís d’Artà, the highest and most compact massif in the eastern mountain chain of the Serres de Llevant, occupies more than half the area of the municipality. The municipality is located on the western part of peninsula of Artà and is bordered in the west by the Bay of Alcúdia (Badia d’Alcúdia), and in the north by the Mediterranean sea where its coast lies opposite the neighbouring island of Menorca. The coast of Artà stretches for 25 kilometres and, so far, has escaped being developed. Particularly noteworthy are the beach and sand dune formations of sa Canova d’Artà, the flat coastal strip near the settlement of Colònia de Sant Pere, the high rocky coves of the Cap de Ferrutx and a large number of smaller bays that extend from s’Arenalet des Verger to Cala Torta. To the east and southeast the municipality of Artà is bordered by the communities of Capdepera and Son Servera. Until the 19th century both belonged, together with the district of Artà, to the so-called Peninsula of Artà. Hence why the caves on the east coast of Mallorca in the municipality of Capdepera are called the Caves of Artà (Coves d' Artà). To the southwest are the municipalities of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar and Petra. The Torrent de na Borges, with its hamlet of Son Serra de Marina, forms the western border of Artà with the municipality of Santa Margalida. The following villages are part of the municipality of Artà: * Artà (5803 / 6406) * Colònia de Sant Pere (483 / 483) * Urbanització Betlem (51 / 51) * Urbanització Montferrutx (114 / 114) * Urbanització Sant Pere (34 / 34) * Urbanització s’Estanyol (25 / 25) The figures in brackets give the population as at 1 January…

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,902
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,758
• Sardinian Warbler

  Curruca melanocephala (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  1,666
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,552
• Audouin's Gull

  Ichthyaetus audouinii (Payraudeau, 1826) · Aves
  1,552
• Yellow-legged Gull

  Larus michahellis J.F.Naumann, 1840 · Aves
  1,504
• Cetti's Warbler

  Cettia cetti (Temminck, 1820) · Aves
  1,201
• European Stonechat

  Saxicola rubicola (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,089

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2005-01-21
  4 km WNW of Vilafranca de Bonany, Spain
• M 2.5 — 2001-11-03
  39 km NW of Ciutadella, Spain
• M 3.8 — 2001-11-02
  38 km NW of Ciutadella, Spain
• M 2.5 — 2001-10-14
  51 km N of Port de Pollença, Spain