After purchasing a ticket and small book to help understand the history, Ian and I ascend a beautiful staircase. Built of rustic stone and flanked by rills, this is both a beautiful moment but also the beginning of a lesson about Mallorcan agricultural practices. The rills are fed by a fountain, in turn fed by a cistern and are used to irrigate terraced beds along the way.
At the top a small plaza is flanked by a chicken coop and coved cistern. Through a portal lies a pergola, small kitchen, and a view down a long vine covered arbor supported by Mallorcan stone columns. Midway down a series of fountains can be activated to spray the path (and whomever might be on it). Fun...and probably welcome in the midst of summer. Fields spread out from the vista at the bottom of the path. Looking back up, a series of hoses connects various terraces, carrying water from the cistern when activated. Makes me wonder what they were using prior to the advent of modern hoses as this system has been operational for hundreds of years.
The rest of the experience includes a verdant English inspired garden installed in the 19th century. Palms, shade trees, flowering shrubs, and a bar create a restful place viewed from the villa. The tour of the villa reveals simple but semi-grand rooms. The house is beautifully maintained and is very open to the garden through French doors that open to the covered terrace along the length of the structure.
A central hall leads to the front door and out to a beautiful cobbled court shaded by an enormous and broad Plane tree. A Moorish ceiling, original to the property and dating to the 16th century is just inside the gate into the court. Amazing!
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