Pollença - Puig de María GR 221

Bus stop Pollença 2 - Road Ma-2200 km 51.8 - Cadireta del Bon Jesús - Puig de María and return.
GR 221 variant:
https://caminsdepedra.conselldemallorca.cat/en/-/derivacio-puig-de-maria

The route begins on kilometre 51.8 of the Ma-2200 road which goes around the town of Pollença on the eastern side, 300 metres to the south of the monument commemorating the poet Costa i Llobera. A line of cypress trees marks the start of the route, which quickly climbs the mountain hillside, passing not far from some very elaborate boundary walls built at the beginning of the 20th century by master dry stone wallers (”margers”) from Pollença. Continue along the narrow paved road that has some bends, next to which there is remains of the old bridle path and the watering place known as Piqueta de l’Ase, where passers-by heading to Puig de Maria would water their animals. A little further on is the end of the stretch that is fit for cars, and the start of the cobbled bridle path, restored in 1994 by the “margers” of the Council of Mallorca. After going through a gate one finds the Cova del Dimoni next to the path as well as the rock known as the Cadireta del Bon Jesús. The Camí dels Ermitans, which leads to the Molí de Vent, is a little further along on the left. It was built at the beginning of the 20th century. Leaving this path, go straight on until arriving at the sanctuary of Verge María del Puig, from where one can view the bays of Pollença and Alcúdia, the Pla de Mallorca plain area and the Serra de Tramuntana, with the Puig Tomir and Puig de Maçanella peaks in the background.

The sanctuary:
In the summit, we find traces of the Convent of the cloistered nuns who lived there until the 16th Century, when the regular clergywomen of St. Augustine moved to the city of Palma and other religious nuns who established their residence there outside any religious order and were forced to abandon the Convent due to the pressure from the Bishop of Mallorca. Another religious congregation of contemplative life and penitence, the Order of Sant Pere (St. Peter) and Sant Pau (St. Paul), also felt attracted to this mountain, they set up residence here in 1917. You cannot miss out on a visit to the different buildings of the old monastery of cloistered nuns, which survived until the 16th century; the refectory, the chapter house, now a chamber museum with votive offerings, the church, whose origins date back to the 15th century, with the image of the Mare de Déu del Puig (St Mary of the Mount), and the walled enclosure with a robust defence tower.