Sant Joan, Mallorca, Things to do and see, hotels, market

During the Islamic era (902-1229/32), the Moorish emirs divided the island in twelve districts, so called “Juz’s”. The area here was located in the most southern part of the district of Yiynau-Bitra, which also comprised the current municipalities of Sineu, Petra, Ariany, Lloret de Vistalegre and Vilafranca de Bonany. The Moors settled in farmhouses and huts scattered all over the area, from where they were able to cultivate the lands by building some of the first hydraulic systems like water tunnels and wells, the so-called quanats. Some of the most well-documented farms from the Islamic era are the Alhamar, Binifarda and Maham.

When the Catalan army conquered the island in the years between 1229 and 1232, the king distributed the districts and lands among knights and bishops. The new landowner was Pere de Palau, however, already in 1235 the area passed on due to either death or exchange. The area was given to Arias Yánez, a knight of Portuguese Sant Joan de Verí from Coïmbra. From the farm and lands of the Alhamar, a small community started to slowly grow and changed name to Sant Joan de Sineu. The new Christian settlers were quick to mark the new religious dominance, and already in the 1240’s the first chapel was established on the hill of Puig de Consolació. Until 1298, this chapel was under ecclesiastical management of the parochial church of Santa Maria in Sineu, but thanks to Bishop Ponç de Jardí  a segregation was possible and the permission to build a new church in Sant Joan was granted. Moreover, the segregation and establishment of a parish church in Sant Joan came from a quickly growing congregation which was evidenced just a few years later. In the year 1300, King Jaume II of Mallorca signed a set of ordinances which stated that any urban area of at least 100 inhabitants was given the rights to establish a town council and the right to trade products at the market. This was the official establishment of the town of Sant Joan.

The Middle Ages brought several crises to Mallorca; plagues, droughts and societal turbulence as the most remarkable. During 1521 and 1523, a rebellious movement formed in Mallorca as a reaction to a severe debt to the crown from prior conflicts, which made it almost impossible for craftsmen and peasants to earn money. Many locals from the town of Sant Joan participated in the revolution fighting for the rebellious army. Sant Joan took great damage during the clashed between peasants and the royal army that was sent to the island to stop the chaos, leaving the town in massive debt and a highly reduced population.

As earlier stated, Sant Joan is a municipality quintessence to agriculture, this is partly manifested in the finca els Calderers, a manor that became renown all over the island for introducing new techniques.  The introduction of new machinery and techniques at els Calderers revolutionized the entire agrarian community of Mallorca. Today, els Calderers serves as a ethnological museum where you can examine all these tools.

Today, Sant Joan is still one of the only places in Mallorca where agriculture predominates the main occupation in the area. Tourism is limited to but a few agroturismos scattered over the rural countryside.