Capdepera Castle, Mallorca

Capdepera Castle in Mallorca is a fortified structure that surrounded the primitive town of Capdepera, built on the Benifilia settlement. Its construction began with the walls and would have begun in around the year 1300.

 

Capdepera Castle, Mallorca

Its strategic position gave it control over access to Cala Rajada and Canyamel, control over the region as a whole and over maritime connections with Menorca.

 

Between 1311 and 1328 the immediate neighbours moved inside its walls, but soon protested about the lack of useful space and the difficulty of carrying out agricultural and animal-rearing activities. Works were completed in 1386, when there were some seventy smallish houses inside and nearly 200 inhabitants. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, with the threat of the Turkish landings, the region’s entire population moved to live within the castle, with a total of 150 houses being built.

 

In 1854 the military left the castle and in 1862 it was auctioned off for 4,252 pesetas; it was sold to the Quint-Safortesa and Fuster families. In 1983, the Town Council and the landowners signed the Castle over to the town of Capdepera.

Capdepera Castle, Mallorca