The Almudaina Palace sits immediately beside the cathedral, its towers and battlements completing the great maritime facade of historic Palma. The building began as an Arab citadel — almudaina is an Arabized form of the Latin word for citadel — and was transformed by King James II of Mallorca in the late thirteenth century into a Gothic royal palace that combined Islamic spatial traditions with European Gothic stonework. The result is something genuinely unusual: pointed arches and Catalan Gothic vaulting wrapped around a courtyard that still feels partially Moorish.
The rooms open to visitors include the Throne Hall, the Chapel of Santa Ana with its early fourteenth-century portal, and a series of state apartments furnished with Flemish tapestries and antiques. The building is administered by the National Heritage organisation and closes when the royal family is in residence, typically for stretches during July and August. Worth visiting for the architecture alone, especially the courtyard and the views from the battlements over the cathedral and the bay.