Manacor
is lively, restless, accessible, rapidly growing, a great centre for sport activities,
shopping, industry and culture, including art and is a commercial and industrial
town and regional capital. The town of Manacor is situated in a hollow which experiences
the freezing fogs of winter and the burning heat of the summer. It is surrounded
by a diversity of landscapes and a countryside where large manor houses with defence
towers dominate the horizon, former refuges for those fleeing Burber pirate attacks.
Today several of such towers have been reconverted into establishments catering
for agricultural and rural tourism.
Manacor
offers a wealth of historical remains including important prehistoric sites from
the Talaiotic era ( 1.200 to 900 BC ) such as the megalithic remains of S'Illot
Son Vaquer, Son Ribot or the site of S'Hospitalet Vell, a Talaiotic village which
due to its size and monumental value is one of the most important on the island
and also one of the most enigmatic. There are the remains of Son Pereto, a former
chapel, on the Manacor to Sant Llorenc, road where the treasures of this tiny
church are gradually being unearthed including the beautiful mosaics and a large
number of other archaeological remains providing evidence and a reminder of the
ancient Christian colony. These treasures can be viewed in Manacor's Municipal
Archaeological Museum, situated in the Tower of the Enagistes ( Manacor to Calas
de Mallorca road ).
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Other
interesting historical sites include the remains of the Paleo-Christian church
of Sa Carrotja and the communication and defence tower " Torre des Falcons"
in Porto Cristo; the humble remains of the Manacor
Royal Palace"Torre del Palau" former dwelling of King James 11; the
neo-Gothic building of the church of Sorrows in Manacor, whose bell tower, known
as the Rubi tower is the highest building in the town, but the architectural jewel
is without doubt the cloister of Saint Vicente Ferrer, one of the few cloisters
in the country forming a twin gallery and which was declared a National Monument
in 1919. Today, with the help of grants, it is being restored by a team of architects
and surveyors.
Manacor
has recently experienced a great boom in tourism and the nearby beaches are well
attended in the summer. The recent boom has encouraged an increase in the number
of hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. It has also enabled the area to
become more organised. Most of Manacor's beaches have been awarded the Blue Flag
for safety and facilities.
Manacor
is known to be the centre of Mallorca's pearl industry and within Manacor
you will find several large factories that allow visits. Each factory gives a
tour whereby you can watch the whole process of pearl manufacture. At the end
you have the chance to see the showroom and purchase items of jewellery made on
the premises. We made such a vist in January 2003 and found the visit to be very
informative, free of charge and well worth the effort. You can either take a coach
trip to a factory or make your own way there.
Another
industry for which Manacor is famous, and indeed Mallorca in general, is olive
wood. There is a good factory on the entrance road to Manacor that allows
visits. You can visit the showroom and see thousands of items hand crafted from
olive wood. You will also see some of the antique machinery once used in the factory.
The visit is free and prices are reasonable for the olive wood items. You will
see everything from coffee tables to coasters, dominos and pens.
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