Alcúdia Old Town & Roman Ruins

Alcúdia is one of the best-preserved walled medieval towns in Mallorca, a compact historic center enclosed almost entirely by its original 14th-century stone walls with intact gates, bastions, and portions of the medieval moat still visible. Built by the Aragonese crown following the Christian reconquest of Mallorca, the walls were constructed on the site of a Moorish fortified settlement (al-Kudia means 'the hill' in Arabic) which in turn overlay the remains of the Roman city of Pollentia. The Roman settlement, founded around 70 BC, was the most important town in the Balearic Islands under Roman administration and grew to cover a significant urban area with a forum, theater, and residential districts. Archaeological excavation of the Pollentia site, conducted continuously since the 1920s just outside the medieval walls to the south, has revealed the remains of Roman streets, mosaic-floored houses, and public buildings visible as floor plans and foundations in an open-air archaeological park. The adjacent Museu de Pollentia displays the most significant artifacts — bronze statues, marble busts, coins, ceramics, and everyday objects — in a purpose-built museum of considerable quality. The medieval walled town, entered through the Renaissance Portal de Mallorca gate, contains the Church of Sant Jaume, traditional houses, and a pleasant Plaça de la Constitució used as a market square on Tuesday and Sunday mornings when one of northern Mallorca's most attended markets draws stalls selling produce, crafts, and clothing.