Mallorca is a paradise for its beaches and landscapes and for its excellent climate. This means that many hikers are attracted to its trails and routes at any time of the year. Although the excursions that we are going to introduce you now is not one of the most accomplish by foreign travelers, it’s definitely astonishing due to its views and its cultural component.
This is none other than the excursion to Puig de Randa, in the municipality of Algaida, which is not only the highest point of inland Mallorca, but also has three sanctuaries worthy of admiration, among which the Santuari de Cura stands out. This last architectural building is located right on the top of this mountain, from where the landscape is simply spectacular and incredibly peaceful.
Excursion to Puig de Randa and visit to the Sanctuary of Cura
- Start your excursion in Randa and arrive at Puig de son Reus.
- Don’t forget to visit Santuari de Gracia and Ermita de Sant Honorat.
- Enjoy the spectacular views from Puig de Randa.
- Visit Cura Sanctuary and learn about its history.
- End the excursion in Randa and let yourself be captivated by its charm.
1. Start your excursion in Randa and arrive at Puig de son Reus.
Randa, the village in the central municipality of Algaida, has a car park, located in front of the parish church, which may be the starting point for this route. If you arrive from any other town in Mallorca by car, this will be the best place to park it and start your excursion.
This continues along Carrer de la Iglesia and passes Carrer de sa Font. In this last street you’ll pass by a fountain (with its Muslim canal standing out) and Randa’s Cross, built in 1846. This street accesses the Ma-5018 road and we must take the detour signposted as Carrer des Puig from where you’ll enter a beautiful forest where you can start following the milestones.
After a good ascent, you’ll reach Son Reus or Comuna mountain (488 m, from where the views are clear and one can contemplate a spectacular setting of the center of Mallorca and Randa’s massif.
The path that follows crosses the plain of the summit between vegetation made up of garrigue, pine, wild olive or steppe in an easterly direction, bordering the mountain along the marked path and displaying incredible views. After passing through some abandoned quarries, you’ll reach the road that leads to the Sanctuary of Cura, but first:
2. Don’t forget to visit Santuari de Gracia and Ermita de Sant Honorat.
Both the Gracia Sanctuary (dating from the late fifteenth century) and the hermitage of Sant Honorat (from the fourteenth century) allow visitor to come in. These buildings, which were places of retreat, prayer and congregation, offer wonderful views of the south of the island.
But although from here the panoramic views are impressive, there’s still the second part of the ascent to get to the summit. This second part of the ascent to Puig de Randa alternates asphalt road and small trails between which you can shorten the road marked “Santuari de Cura”, until you reach the top.
3. Enjoy the spectacular views from Puig de Randa.
There may have been times during the ascent when exhaustion took its toll. This happens to many not so experienced hikers, but everything passes once you reach the top of Puig de Randa.
The summit has an incredible panoramic viewpoint, from which you will enjoy excellent views of inland Mallorca (for many the best on the island), more than 500 meters above the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, it’s the highest elevation of the Randa massif, from which you will be able to see more than 30 villages, as well as the extraordinary sea from side to side.
If you look north, you’ll discern neighboring towns such as Algaida or Pina, as well as Inca or even the bay of Alcúdia. To the east you’ll see the Serra de Llevant and Manacor, while to the west you’ll be lookin at Palma and its bay or even catch a glimpse of the Serra de Tramuntana to the northwest if it’s not cloudy.
Once you have reached the top and have followed the path to the Sanctuary to contemplate the views in each of its corners, it’s time to rest (if you have not done so before) and have your well-deserved lunch. If you don’t take it with you, you should know that in the Sanctuary of Cura there’s a restaurant where you could eat, but you may prefer to book and access another day by car.
For this reason, one of the best places to have lunch is the Sanctuary’s Plaza where there is a small disused cistern and where there are stone tables to have a picnic, unless the shade of a tree is preferable. So, once lunch is over, it remains to visit the Sanctuary:
4. Visit Cura Sanctuary and learn about its history.
¿Did you know Puig de Randa is considered one of the sacred mountains of Mallorca? This place is the origin of legends and stories, where vestiges of the Islamic and medieval period remain. A place from where Ramon Llull, an emblematic character of the Mediterranean and Mallorca, begun his intense and extensive intellectual and missionary career with the aim of reforming the Church and introduced an innovative philosophical system.
In fact, tradition tells that the origin of the sanctuary is the Marian altar that Ramon had built in 1275 and that gave the first form to the sanctuary of the Virgen de Randa (later called Cura). Currently in this Santuari it’s possible to visit the small Museum (Museu del Aula de Gràmatica Ramon Llull), where religious objects and books are preserved along with manuscripts related to Lullism and ethnological heritage.
Walk through the garden, the chapel and, if you wish, enter the most recent construction (the convent from the mid-20th century). In addition, in the vicinity of the Sanctuary of Cura, there is also the cave of Blessed Ramon Llull, the place where it’s said that he received Enlightenment, the vision of Christ crucified and where a small chapel was built.
5. End the excursion in Randa and let yourself be captivated by its charm.
To return you can shorten the paths that cross the main road instead of taking the direction towards Puig de Son Reus, in this way the descent will be much faster and you will have time to let yourself fall in love with the charm of Randa’s village before sunset.
If you are one of those entertaining hikers who cannot stop admiring what surrounds them, you may have discovered the wonders of Randa before starting the route. If you had been able to avoid it, to start the excursion earlier, now is the time to let yourself be captivated by this village.
Randa is an enclave in the center of Mallorca, it’s really charming and manages to seduce every visitor who walks through its streets. In the town you can admire the architecture of its houses and farms built with natural stone, and the exuberant gardens with typical Mediterranean plants and trees. And, without a doubt, in this district of Algaida, you will end up discovering the true meaning of tranquility.
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