Santa Ana Church · Alcúdia (EN)

Church of Santa Ana de Alcudia The church of Santa Ana is located on the outskirts of Alcudia, halfway between Alcudia and the port, in front of the cemetery. This construction dates back to the 13th century, possibly the work of Diego Español, and in the oldest sources it is documented as Santa María de la Torre. In 2004 it was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest and is one of the best preserved examples of a church of the first Christian repopulation, after the Catalan conquest of 1229, on the island. The building forms a single body with a first floor and a two-slope roof supported by three Gothic arches. The interior consists of a single nave with a gabled roof. The temple is dedicated to Santa Ana and San Joaquín. On the façade, above the entrance portal there is a canopy and a Gothic pedestal, where until recently there was the image of the Virgin of the Good News, topped by a semicircular arch and a belfry. The original altarpieces and triptychs are kept in the parish museum. The church sits on the site of the ancient Roman city and has undergone various renovations and conservation work over the centuries. In 2014, thanks to an agreement with the Bishopric of Mallorca, it was possible to partially excavate inside. The results made it possible to document two construction phases. One corresponding to the primitive church, quadrangular in plan and with access from the south facade, probably built in the late thirteenth century or early fourteenth century, with an associated cemetery. To the west is attached a strong foundation for a possible bell tower. The second major phase of the church gave the building practically its present appearance. The original building was enlarged on the east, with the construction of the apse and the sacristy, and on the west, with a new section with a door, which meant the walling up of the southern one. It is interesting to note that the primitive church sits on powerful levels from the Islamic period. Under them, ancient levels were documented, essentially from the Roman Imperial period (1st-2nd centuries A.D.), especially highlighting five ditches with an east-west direction that correspond to cultivation ditches of surely Roman agricultural structures, not documented to date in Mallorca.