Most visitors who walk through Palma’s cathedral, La Seu, have no idea that they are standing in a space reshaped by Antoni Gaudí. In the year that marks the centenary of the Catalan architect’s death in 1926, his work in Mallorca deserves a closer look — although some of it takes a keen eye to find.
A commission from the bishop
In 1904, Bishop Pere Joan Campins asked Gaudí to renovate the interior of the cathedral. The project lasted about a decade and set out to make the great Gothic building work better for worship, while bringing it up to date.
Art historian Mercè Gambús sums up his approach: “He gave the cathedral a scenographic meaning.” Gaudí treated the interior almost like a stage, drawing the eye towards the altar.
What he changed
- Light. Many of the cathedral’s windows had been blocked up over the centuries, leaving the interior in near darkness. Gaudí reopened them and introduced electric lighting, including the wrought-iron lamps that still hang in the nave.
- The choir. He moved the choir stalls out of the centre of the nave, opening up the view to the altar for the congregation.
- The baldachin. Above the altar hangs his canopy, an experimental structure of wood, paper and fabric that looks deliberately provisional.
- The bishop’s seat. The area around the episcopal throne is decorated with colourful ceramics featuring plant motifs.
- Small details. Look closely and you will find tulip flowers carved into the stone at the corners of some windows.
Opposition and an unfinished project
Gaudí’s ideas were not universally welcomed in Mallorca. The architect Guillem Forteza criticised what he saw as arbitrary decoration that clashed with the Gothic building. Amid disagreements with local builders and critics, Gaudí stepped away from the project in 1914, and some elements were never completed.
Beyond the cathedral
His influence can also be seen next door at the Bishop’s Palace, where a window overlooking the sea is attributed to him. Further afield, he is associated with work at the Sanctuary of Lluc, including the church interior and the monumental path of the Rosary on the mountain above the monastery.
Why it matters
Unlike his projects in Barcelona, Palma gave Gaudí the chance to work on a great medieval monument. Experts say it combined his deep Catholic faith with his experimental approach — and anyone visiting La Seu this year can see the results by looking up at the lamps and towards the altar.
