Estates · 5 min read · Updated
Stone estates in Mallorca:how the light falls
Marés, dry stone, courtyards and cloisters: the stone decides how the light falls at midday and how it takes its leave in the evening.
In Mallorca the stone is pale and returns light well into the evening. That changes the hour of the cocktail, not the venue. It helps to know which stone is in front of you before fixing a schedule.
Possessions are the country houses of the island. Alongside them you find other formulas: finca, agroturismo, winery with vineyard, castle, hotel with views. The name does not tell you how the light behaves. The stone, the courtyard and the orientation do.
Marés in the south, dry stone in the interior and the mountains
Marés is the island's traditional stone: a calcareous sandstone (a calcarenite) made mostly of calcium carbonate, very porous and soft, easy to carve. It is quarried in the open or in underground galleries, in municipalities such as Santanyí, Felanitx, Llucmajor, Campos, Manacor, Muro, Petra and Santa Margalida. It built Palma's cathedral, the Lonja and Bellver Castle, among other buildings, as well as much of the island's country houses and estate walls.
Dry stone, built by stacking stones without mortar, appears in the interior and in the Tramuntana, above all in terraces and field walls. The Serra de Tramuntana has been a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape since 2011, and the art of dry stone walling was inscribed in 2018 on UNESCO's list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, in a joint bid by eight countries that included Spain and, within it, the Balearic Islands.
In both cases the effect is the same: at midday a stone courtyard works as a box of hard light, with shadows under the eyes and scorched ground. In the evening, that same stone gives the light back and warms the tone.
Why midday is so harsh
The reason is the angle of the sun. At midday in mid-June the sun in Mallorca stands about 74 degrees above the horizon, almost overhead; in mid-October, about 42; in mid-December, about 27. With the sun so high, light drops into an enclosed courtyard almost vertically, reaches the floor and bounces off the pale stone, with no wall to soften it. That is why a courtyard that feels warm in autumn can be a well of light in summer.
| Moment | What the stone does | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Midday, courtyard or cloister | A well of light: shadowed eyes, scorched ground | Spend midday in the shade |
| Midday, arched gallery | Soft side light when the sun does not enter directly | Prepare there whatever needs soft light |
| Mid-afternoon | Open, even shade | Unhurried portraits |
| Last 20 minutes | Pale stone returns warm light | Keep that time free |
A house rented for the weekend behaves in a similar way. Get ready together in the same place, beside a window, and do not close the shutters: hard midday light entering from the side models better than it seems.
What a possessió is
The possessió is the type of country house peculiar to Mallorca: a handful of buildings, known as the cases de la possessió, around a large farming holding. It grew out of the properties Catalan conquerors divided up in the thirteenth century over earlier Muslim farmsteads. Each has its own courtyard, its own orientation and its own stone, and those three facts are what decide the light. Otros tipos de lugar: where to hold a wedding in Mallorca.
What changes in a historic building
In a cloister or an enclosed courtyard the voice bounces. Without amplification, vows can become unintelligible. In an old room with small windows, extra light is needed, and that is decided well in advance.
Four questions before booking
- Can anything be hung or fixed to the stone?
- If it rains, how many people fit under cover?
- Does the house hold one wedding a day or two?
- Where does the sun fall at the end of the afternoon, and what lies between that point and the house?
Put them in writing to each house that interests you, and compare the answers with the sunset table in the text on the light of the island. That shows which houses fit the hour you imagine.
A request that saves doubt
Ask the house for photographs of the courtyard, the cloister or the terrace taken at different times of day, not just the ones in the brochure. It is the best proof of how the light falls in that place, and it lets you compare two houses by the same standard. If the house has none, ask whether you can visit at the hour you imagine the cocktail.
Frequently asked questions
What is marés?
A porous, soft limestone, a calcarenite, easy to carve and used for centuries to build on the island.
What is the difference between a possessió and a finca?
A possessió is a specific type of Mallorcan country house, with its own history. «Finca» is a more general word. Neither tells you by itself how the light behaves or how many rooms the place has.
At what time should portraits be taken in a stone courtyard?
With the sun high, the courtyard gives hard light: better to use the shade of a gallery or wait for mid-afternoon. In the last twenty minutes the pale stone returns warm light.
How do I know which way the finca faces?
Ask the house in writing which way the cocktail area faces and what lies between that point and the horizon. With the sunset table you can work out your own hour.