Bellver Castle Palma de Mallorca Majorca

Please share with your friends. Castell de Bellver rises 112 meters above the Bay of Palma as one of Europe’s most unusual Gothic fortresses. Built between 1300 and 1311 for King James II of Majorca, it is a true architectural anomaly: a perfectly circular castle at a time when medieval military design favored rectangles and angles. Conceived as both royal residence and dynastic statement, Bellver functioned only briefly as a palace before the fall of the independent Kingdom of Majorca in 1349. Its design is rigorously concentric, combining defense, geometry, and symbolism. A circular moat, outer walls with three semi-circular towers, a central courtyard, and a detached keep connected by a bridge create a unified system of surveillance and control. Scholars link this geometry to the ideas of Majorcan philosopher Ramon Llull, who viewed the circle as the ideal form reflecting divine order. Constructed from local marès sandstone, the castle appears organically carved from its hilltop. After losing its royal role, Bellver became a high-security prison, housing queens, Enlightenment thinker Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, Napoleonic soldiers, and Republican prisoners during the Spanish Civil War. Today, it serves as Palma’s City History Museum and a cultural landmark within the Bosque de Bellver, offering panoramic views, layered history, and a rare fusion of architecture, philosophy, and power. Thanks for watching. Facebook facebook.com/SteveAndAnitaInMallorca Email: [email protected] Instagram https://www.instagram.com/steveandanitainmallorca/ #mallorca #majorca #baleares #spain #vlog #illesbalears Here is a link to our 360º Virtual Reality channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/360VRSteveandAnitainMallorca