Petra, Mallorca, Things to do and see, hotels, market

In the time between 902 and 1229, Mallorca was under Muslim dominance by the Moors. During that time, Petra was part of a district known as “Yityau-Bitra”, which also comprised the areas of Sineu, Sant Joan, Ariañy, Lloret de Vistalegre and Vilafranca de Bonany. The Moors settled in small communities, or clans if you will, in farmhouses and huts from where they could cultivate the soil. Undoubtedly, the torrent of na Borges had been the most vital natural source of the area allowing the Moors to collect water.

Following the Christian reconquista in the years 1229 – 1232, the district of Yityau-Bitra was distributed amongst knights of king Jaume I of Aragón, however, still a part of his kingdom. Later it fell in the hands of his successor, King Sanç. From the 14th century, Petra was divided amongst the families of Burgues, Sant Joan, Sant Martí, Desbach and Sureda.

In the year 1300, King Jaume II of Mallorca constituted the town of Petra with a set of ordinances, taking the name from its original name of Bitra. An urban nucleus and grid was planned out with the necessary infrastructure to service the about 100 inhabitants.

During the 15th and 16th century, Petra started to rapidly develop as an agricultural community with its main production of cereals. Actually, Petra was one of the places in Mallorca with the biggest population at that time. What more made Petra interesting an wealthy in the Middle Ages, was the many quarries, which also has been used for constructing the parochial church and the Sant Bernadí convent in town.

Although droughts and epidemics caused multiple setbacks for the community, however, the belief that with hard work and sacrifice things will turn to the better. For this reason, there is an old saying in the area that goes: “The devil surrendered in Petra”.

Improvements in agricultural techniques through the 16th and 17th centuries meant that Petra could slowly grow more prosperous as a society. Due to the growing population and incomes, major donations also came to the church, the old Saint Peter’s Church was demolished in 1581, in order to build a new and bigger church that could accommodate the growing congregation.

In 1607, the Franciscan order settled in Petra and within the same century they had already erected the imposing convent of Sant Bernadí.

In 1714, a boy with the name of Miguel José Serra Ferrer is born in Petra and baptized in the parochial church of Sant Pere. Already in an early age he was accepted in the Sant Bernadí to receive his education, and in the age of 17, he swore to dedicate his life to the order. His intellect was undoubtedly illuminating, and it soon showed that he was a great medium for the entire religious world. From this time, he took his Franciscan name in use; Junipero Serra. He started teaching religion even before he had finished his own doctoral in theology. Later on, he founded missions in Mexico and California and became renown as the most influential spiritual leader. There are several monuments of him in Mexico, California and in Washington where he was canonized in 2015.

The end of the 18th century was the beginning of Mallorca’s great wine adventure, where Petra, like many other areas of the island, benefited from the great European demand. Especially when the dreaded wine plague in the form of wine lice (Phylloxera) spread through France and Italy, Mallorca’s wines came in high course. Unfortunately, by the end of the 19th century, Mallorca could no longer avoid the dreaded wine plague, all the vineyards had to be burnt down and many of the island’s great wine farmers emigrated to South America to start a fresh one.

Today, the wine industry is once again flourishing, however, most of the income come from agricultural activities like cereals, figs, melons and plums. Moreover, stones, construction and clay are major industries in Petra.