Castell de Bellver
Perched on a pine-forested hill 3 km west of Palma's old town, Castell de Bellver is one of Europe's only circular Gothic castles — and its rooftop terrace delivers the finest 360-degree panorama of the city, the bay and the Serra de Tramuntana mountains beyond.
A castle unlike any other
Built between 1300 and 1311 as a royal residence for the Kings of Majorca, Bellver's perfectly round keep and courtyard were revolutionary for their time. The design was almost certainly influenced by French Gothic architecture, and the two-storey arcaded courtyard inside is so harmonious it has been compared to a cloister.
For five centuries the castle served as a prison; the Spanish Enlightenment philosopher Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos was famously held here from 1802 to 1808 and wrote extensively about the building's history while incarcerated — his room is still marked.
The view and the forest walk up
The rooftop battlements give you Palma spread out below like a map — the cathedral's buttresses, the marina's forest of masts, the grid of the Eixample neighbourhood and, on clear days, the distant profiles of Cabrera island and the Tramuntana peaks dusted white in winter.
The most rewarding approach is on foot through the Bosc de Bellver, a protected pine forest that begins at Avinguda de Joan Miró. The shaded 30-minute walk passes picnic benches, wild peacocks and Moorish-era water channels. Alternatively, bus line 50 runs from Plaça d'Espanya.
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