Torre Major

Torre Major

16th-century defensive tower in Alcanada, featuring a 1602 royal coat of arms and Renaissance details. A protected heritage site in good condition.

Torre Major de Alcanada stands in the Bay of Alcúdia, about 18 metres above sea level, and has been listed as a Cultural Heritage Site since 1949. Its name comes from the former Puerto Mayor, and it was built in 1599 by order of King Philip II of Spain to reinforce the town’s coastal defence. The tower stands on a solid sandstone base and measures 14 metres in both diameter and height. The entrance features a royal coat of arms dated 1602, attributed to Antoni Verger. In front of the tower there was once a lower artillery battery with four large cannons. Archduke Luís Salvador described it as a tower with a Renaissance parapet, decorative coats of arms, volute corbels and a machicolation accessed by sandstone steps. Inside it preserves a dark entrance hall, a spiral staircase, rooms with pointed arches and an upper terrace paved with concentric sandstone slabs. At ground level lie the cistern, kitchen and a barrel-vaulted portico. The tower is owned by Alcúdia Town Council and is in good condition.