Felanitx or Felanich is a
municipality in the
Spanish autonomous community of the
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
,
located in the southeast of
Majorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
, 48 kilometres (30 miles) from the capital
Palma de Mallorca
Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...
.
The town, dating back to the 13th century, lies near the medieval Sant Salvador Monastery with its
Gothic architecture.
Culture
The St. Agustí convent was founded by
Augustinians
Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...
in the 17th Century. In 1881 the Felanitx town council took over the church and celebrates that event every year. It's celebrated by performing Els Cavallets, a dance in which six ''Cavallets'' between 10 and 14 years of age, perform dances. The ''Cavallets'' wear a cardboard horse around their middles, dressed in a red shirt and a green hat. They dance around ''La Dama'', a girl in a green dress with a red hat. There are nine different dances: ''es rollet, ses tres potadetes, s'envestida, es canvis, ses cadenilles, es passeig, es pas nou,'' ''esses velles'' and ''esses noves.''
The dances are accompanied by music played on the
Xeremia, the
Flabiol and the tambourine.
They perform on the days of Santa Margalida and Sant Agustí.
Economy
Felanitx is also known for its wine and particularly its
brandy
Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...
, with over 60 distilleries in the local area recorded in 174
It is a center of production of earthenware watercoolers and other pottery since at least the 3rd century BC.
[
A weekly market takes place in Felanitx every Sunday morning.
]
People
Felanitx is the birthplace of Miquel Barceló, a contemporary painter.
Other famous people from Felanitx include:
* Guillem Sagrera (1380–1456), Gothic architect and sculptor
* Miquel Bauçà
Miquel Bauçà Rosselló (; 1940–2004) was a Mallorcan poet and writer in the Catalan language. His poems have appeared in most contemporary Catalan poetry anthologies. He was recognized as a talented poet from a young age with ''Una bella hist� ...
(1940–2004), writer
* Guillermo Timoner (born 1926), world champion cyclist
* Mariona Caldentey (born 1996) soccer player
Gallery
File:Felanitx (Castell de Santueri) 01 ies.jpg, View from Castle of Santueri in Felanitx
File:Felanitx Portocolom 03 ies.jpg, Portocolom, Felanitx
File:Portocolom-2.JPG, Beach in Portocolom, Felanitx
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Populated places in Mallorca