The Arab Baths, Palma, Majorca Built in the 10th Century, Was the Building Once a Chapel?
After landing at Santa Ponsa 12th September 1229, King Jaume (James) I of Aragon started his conquest of Majorca. At dawn on 31 December 1229, he finally entered, by force of arms, Medina Mayurqa (now Palma) the Capital of Majorca (in Spanish, Mallorca) through the north gate near where is now Plaza Espanya and by the evening of 31st December 1229, the town capitulated. Almost every Arab within the walls were massacred. There are estimates that at least 20,000 Arab men, women and children were killed that day. Around 30,000 managed to escape through the gate of Berbelet and the gate of Portupi, and took to the hills, only because, it is said, so great were the goods and bounty within the city, the knights and foot soldiers took no notice of the fleeing masses. Previous attempts for negotiation by the Arab ruler, by paying a ransom for the safe passage of the population, to the Barbary Coast, and thus avoid the slaughter of the inhabitants, fell on deaf ears. Although King Jaume I wante
