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Teatre Mar i Terra

Located in Palma de Mallorca

In Ciutat de Palma the old Jonquet quarter grew with special force during the 17th century. It was populated by rope-makers, marine carpenters, millers and fishermen, who made up the social base of the neighbourhood. In the 19th century the La Material pottery company was founded, a sample of the industrialisation taking place in the neighbourhood.

Around 1898, the Mar i Terra society was established in a large building which would house various associations over time. At the beginning Mar i Terra was a recreational society, but in October 1900, it became one providing social services and aid. The head offices of the organisation had a theatre and its managers also proposed creating a library and schools and organising conferences. In 1906, the community of Franciscan Sisters of Santa Catalina established an Orphanage that offered its services on the ground floor of the Mar i Terra building until 1916, when it moved to another area of the city. In 1907 the Mariana Congregation, founded in 1905 in the neighbourhood of Santa Catalina, leased the Mar i Terra premises to house its activities: entertainment for youths, plays, conferences, ... In 1916, Mar i Terra became a national school which, after 1935, was known as the Jaume I Public School. In 1943 a “ball de bot” folk-dance group was formed offering dancing classes and teaching people how to play popular musical instruments.

The building of the Mar i Terra theatre was the first building in the area dedicated to leisure and culture. Popular legend says that the writer Jules Verne attended the performance of one of his works, staged in honour of his visit to Majorca. Mar i Terra has a polygon shaped floor plan originally designed to be a bath-house. The neo-arabic decoration is noteworthy and gives an interesting touch of exoticism. The main building, classic in style, is outstanding for its triple-bodied facade with a ground and first floor.

After years of abandon there is now the possibility of beginning a process that would recuperate it for all citizens.

(Text adapted from the report of the historian of Ciutat de Palma, Bartomeu Bestard Cladera, dated 12 December 2005)



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