Past and present

Discover how history and current life coexist between streets, walls and memories

Binissalem: a town with a memory

Binissalem proudly preserves the living memory of a town that has grown up among centuries-old stones, streets full of history and corners that speak of a rich and diverse past. This section is a visual and emotional journey through the municipality, where old photographs and texts allow us to rediscover the spaces that are part of our collective heritage. Between memory and the present, Binissalem is shown as it is: a town rooted in its past, but alive and in constant transformation.

Carrer des Reg

Photograph taken, it is said, on a wedding day, when the guests were going to the church of Cals Agustins, all prepared for such a memorable day. It belongs to the street of Reg, at the confluence with the street now called Llorenç Moyà and the street Dr. Jaume Terrassa .

Some of the water from the northern part of the town was going to end up on Carrer des Reg. At that time, when there was no sewer system, they had to avoid the water as best they could. The bridge we see in the photo is an example. The streets were not yet paved.

-Nadal Nicolau, Bernat (2007): Binissalem, past and present . Rubines Graphics. Binissalem.

-Oral Sources.

Es Pontarró

Who among the middle-aged does not remember the floods and the headaches they caused, due to having to draw water in buckets from inside the houses, when they existed? Almost all the water from the northern part of the town converged here: the Pujol, Carrer des Reg, the Plaça de l’església, Carrer de ses Roques, Concepció, part of the Pere Estruch Street, etc. We are not surprised, therefore, that on autumn days, when the rain really falls, the Placeta del Pontarró looks like a lake.

At that time, when there was no sewer system, they had to avoid the water as best they could. The Pontarró that we see in the photo is an example. Under it a ditch opened that carried the water to the outskirts of the town. At that time, the street from Pontarró was not yet open. The streets were not yet paved.

Near Pontarró the water course deposited sediments, it was a place that children used to play.

The Pontarró, which had a ramp and could be opened, was also used to lower and re-load the pigs from the trucks that were taken to the public weigh station, located nearby, on Carrer des Reg.

-Nadal Nicolau, Bernat (2007): Binissalem, past and present . Rubines Graphics. Binissalem.

-Oral Sources.

Old wall enclosing the Rectory garden

The oldest reference to the wall surrounding the Rectory orchard is in a sketch of Binissalem attributed to Jeroni Berard at the end of the 18th century.

The wall that is currently preserved, restored in 2016, is an archaeological remains that has become fossilized, losing its original function of enclosing a vegetable garden.

-Tarongí Vilaseca, Ferran J.

Escola Graduada (Graduate School)

Sa Graduada, the most symbolic place of education that has existed in Binissalem for many years, both for its architectural character and for its educational functionality. Built in the early years of the third decade of the 20th century, it remained uninterrupted with its training task until the early 80s, and became, after its remodeling, a center for educational, cultural and also leisure activities.

This building is part of the school construction program initiated by the Primo de Rivera government (1923-1930). This program was directed in the Balearic Islands by the inspector of Primary Education Joan Capó, and under the direction of the architect Guillem Forteza Piña (1892-1943), who designed this building in 1928. It should be noted that this school was the heir to the old public school owned by the municipality that is already recorded in documents from the 17th century.

Located in the old field of sa Mostra, an area that, following the opening of the railway line (1875), represented the growth and expansion of the town at the end of the 19th century, since in addition to the construction of the station and school, factories were also installed there due to the proximity of the railway line.

It is an example of eclectic architecture with rationalist echoes. It represents one of the few examples of rationalism in Binissalem. Although it cannot be defined as a “pure” rationalist building, it is a product of the transition period experienced by the architect Forteza from regionalism to rationalism.

Complex consisting of school (with indoor playground), garden and sports field/school playground.

A few years ago the old sports field/playground was covered, removing the wall that enclosed it. to allocate it to different uses. The wall and the fence that enclosed the garden and the school were also eliminated.

-ARCA (2000): Catalog of elements of artistic, historical, environmental and architectural heritage interest in the urban center of Binissalem.

-Nadal Nicolau, Bernat (2007): Binissalem, past and present . Rubines Graphics. Binissalem.

-Oral Sources.

Pou Poal

Communal well, currently in disuse and of popular architecture. It still has water. Dated between the 13th and 15th centuries and with later renovations.

Located in a rural setting, it served to supply water to users of the path that, passing through Binissalem, went towards Coll d’en Simonet and towards the Vall d’Alaró and Orient.

The installation of the train tracks in 1875 separated it relatively from the urban core. It is well documented throughout history.

Of the crankshaft type, it has undergone transformations and is currently the only one of this type remaining in Mallorca.

It consists of the well, the pebble, the cobblestones, the neck, two incomplete pillars and two living stone monoliths used until the 18th century to place a seesaw mechanism and draw water.

A crossbar was placed on top of the stone monoliths and a long pole swung on top of it. A counterweight was placed at the rear end of the pole, and at the other end, above the well, a container, in this case a bucket. The counterweight was arranged in such a way that it balanced the system with the full bucket, thus lifting the bucket out of the well with minimal effort. Only the two stone monoliths remain of the aforementioned system. This system was later changed to the traditional bucket and pulley and, possibly, the current collar and base were built. It seems that in the past the pulley was supported by a pillar and later (1893) by three wooden slats nailed to the paving. Photographs from 1993 show the neck of the well with the two complete pilasters and a crossbar on top.

-ARCA (2000): Catalog of elements of artistic, historical, environmental and architectural heritage interest in the urban center of Binissalem.

– Oral Sources.

Carrer de sa Creu

This is a paradigmatic photograph that shows us the old Sa Creu street, with the well in the foreground and the background with demolished walls and elongated figures of the almond trees of those times.

Elegant and genuine are these unaligned and spontaneous trees that appear in this photo taken around 1900; surely, under their shadows, the neighbors became social gatherings in the summer of everyday events and things of public interest there at the beginning of the 20th century.

The behavior of the people in this image is very interesting, fully prepared to look their best in this photo, which is truly a gem.

This street takes its name from a boundary cross that was formerly located near the well of the Cross, to which it gave its name as well as to the street, and which was moved to Carrer des Reg. Next to it are two plane trees and a small petrol station. In this place it is decontextualised as a visual landmark at the entrance to the town, since boundary crosses were located near the entrance to a town, in a monastery or on the edge of a road.

-ARCA (2000): Catalog of elements of artistic, historical, environmental and architectural heritage interest in the urban center of Binissalem.

-Nadal Nicolau, Bernat (2007): Binissalem, past and present . Rubines Graphics. Binissalem.

Plaça de l'Església (Church Square)

The church of Santa Maria de Robines (so it has been called since 1986, the first incumbents were Sant Jaume and the Mare de Déu Assumpta) is located in a prominent place, the old Plaça dels Lledoners, current Plaça de l’Església, which was urbanized in the 19th century, so most of the buildings in its surroundings were renovated at that time.

Its stonework is imposing, both from the outside and inside.

The church photographed in 1901 is the third to have existed on the same site, heir to the original one in Robines, in the Old Cemetery. It was built in the 18th century, in Baroque style, although it had Gothic remains: the vaults of two chapels located on each side of the apse, the bell tower and the main portal with ogival archivolts decorated with plant motifs.

It had not yet undergone the expansion of the bell tower, completed in 1908.

The construction of what would be the fourth parish church began at the beginning of the 18th century through the impetus of Monsignor Rafel Sabater, under the direction of Bernat Cabrer and the economic splendor that the town experienced from the second half of the 17th century and especially during the 18th century.

It is undoubtedly one of the best examples of a religious building from the Baroque period in Mallorca. It is a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC).

The square, developed in the 19th century, was the town’s cemetery from the 14th century until shortly before the old, restored 13th century cemetery was reopened in 1822. The aforementioned Plaça dels Lledoners was located next to the cemetery. Since it was developed, it has undergone various changes, such as the trees, the trespol, the streetlights, and the construction of the scaffold in 1927 designed by the architect Guillem Forteza Pinya.

-Martí Coll, Guillermo (1978-1989): Binissalem, its history and its surroundings. 4 vols. Ediciones Cort i OMNI.

-ARCA (2000): Catalog of elements of artistic, historical, environmental and architectural heritage interest in the urban center of Binissalem.

-Llabrés, J. and A. Pascual (2000): The Parish Church of Santa Maria de Robines. Brochure. Binissalem Town Hall.

– Llabrés, J. and A. Pascual (2000): The Old Cemetery of Binissalem (1822-1899) and other data on nineteenth-century cemeteries in Mallorca. Historical and artistic memory . Unpublished.

-Nadal Nicolau, Bernat (2007): Binissalem, past and present . Rubines Graphics. Binissalem.

Can Gelabert

Can Gelabert It was, for centuries, the manor house of the Gelabert de la Portella, a representative family of large farmers (senior farmers) of Binissalem. Dating between the 16th and 20th centuries and in a traditional style, it has a Mannerist detail in the cistern in the courtyard and neoclassical interventions from 1820 in the gallery and the paintings in the Pompeian Rooms.

In the photograph you can see a green stone wall, finished in a donkey’s back, which surrounded the garden and orchard of Can Gelabert that went from the point we are observing to the space that is now occupied by the Binissalem – Es Raiguer Health Center. This wall gave total privacy to the complex at the same time as it conditioned the urban planning, since Carrer des Sac was very narrow.

We also observe a small gas station, as well as a boundary cross, which in theory was moved to the Biniali road, but photographic documents show us that it is not the same.

The boundary crosses were located near the entrance to a town, in a monastery or on the edge of a road.

In 1982 the house was bought by the Binissalem Town Council and after major renovations, in 2000, it was inaugurated as the Can Gelabert Cultural Center. One of these renovations was the demolition of the wall and the construction of the park in the garden area. Carrer de Sant Sebastià was also extended to Carrer del Sac.

One of the last owners was Llorenç Moyà Gelabert de la Portella, writer (1916-Binissalem, 1981-Palma). In 1965, together with the members of the Club Atlant, to highlight the secular wine culture of our town, they created the Festa des Vermar.

-ARCA (2000): Catalog of elements of artistic, historical, environmental and architectural heritage interest in the urban center of Binissalem.

-Nadal Nicolau, Bernat (2007): Binissalem, past and present . Rubines Graphics. Binissalem.