Museu d'Art Sacre de Mallorca

About the museum

The Museu d'Art Sacre de Mallorca is the oldest museum institution on the island. Its origins lie with Bishop Mateu Jaume, who gathered altarpieces and images withdrawn from worship and deposited them in the Colegio de la Sapiencia. There the Museo Arqueológico Luliano was founded in 1881, from which much of the present painting collection comes, and the collection was later enlarged with holdings from the Museo Arqueológico Capitular, created in 1905. It was Bishop Pere Joan Campins who promoted a museum of its own, which opened on 23 February 1916 as the Museo Arqueológico Diocesano.

The Civil War forced the museum to close; it was reorganised and reopened on 22 May 1952. In the 1970s it led the project for the Museum of the Church of Mallorca, a network of ecclesiastical museums of which only a first phase was ever carried out. In 1998 Bishop Teodor Úbeda decided to renovate the Episcopal Palace, which was in very poor condition, and the museum took the name Museu d'Art Sacre de Mallorca.

The museum occupies the Episcopal Palace, just behind the apse of the cathedral and above the Almudaina city walls. The palace dates back to the definitive establishment of the bishopric in 1238; its appearance is the result of numerous interventions and is mainly Gothic in style, with a Classicist façade completed in 1616. The visit passes through large Gothic arches, a stained-glass window designed by Antoni Gaudí and remains of the Late Roman city wall. The permanent exhibition is organised into four thematic routes: Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Church and Saints.

Highlights

• The oldest museum on the island, founded in 1916
• Gothic Episcopal Palace above the city walls, next to the cathedral
• Stained-glass window linked to Antoni Gaudí, and city walls
• Altarpiece of Saint George and the Drac de na Coca
• Four thematic routes through Mallorcan Christian art

Permanent exhibitions

• Exposición permanente: cuatro recorridos – Thematic routes on Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Church and the Saints, with works showing the faith of Mallorca's Christians over the centuries.
• Palacio Episcopal – The Gothic building itself is part of the visit, with arches, remains of the Late Roman city wall and a stained-glass window designed by Gaudí.

Founded

1916

Admission & discounts

Free admission: All Saturdays, the museum's anniversary (23 February) and International Museum Day (18 May).

Tickets can be bought online through the Mallorca cathedral website or at the museum ticket office.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

Museum without architectural barriers, with ramps and a lift linking the two floors; adapted toilets, a nursing room, rest areas, walking sticks with seats and an adapted counter at reception. Tactile plan at reception and on the first floor, a large-print and Braille notebook (in Catalan and Spanish), tactile reproductions (model of the Episcopal Palace, the panel of Saint George and the Drac de na Coca), tactile floor strips, subtitled audiovisuals and easy-read texts.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Creative workshops, guided activities, treasure hunts and storytelling sessions for families, held occasionally and announced in the museum's newsletter and on its social media.

Getting there & parking

The museum is on the former city wall, next to the Parc de la Mar and very close to the cathedral.

Amenities & dining

• Coat check
• Lockers

Lockers for bags, backpacks and suitcases larger than 40 x 40 cm.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit