Conoce CalviÃ
/ Know Calvià
/ History
/ Historical Heritage
/ Houses and mills
/ Know Calvià
/ History
/ Historical Heritage
/ Houses and mills
Possessions in Calvià
The country houses " casas de Possessió" in Calvià belong to one of the most important architectural heritages of the boundary and are a clear reflection of a Calvia eminently rural before the arrival of the tourist phenomenon.
Historical Context
The possessions are the most clear symbol of a social and economic system typical of the ancient regime, with important figures such as the feudal Lord de la possessió, the master, the amitger, the farm manager, the farmworker, etc.
For centuries Calvià was a poor municipality, scarcely populated and basically devoted to the cultivation of the land. Apart from a few people who fished, most of the people turned their back on the sea and cultivated the land, which in this particular area is dry and isn't very fertile. The main crops were olives, carob beans and vines which together with cereals (wheat, barley and oats), vegetables, animals, basically sheep and goats, and the working of the pines to obtain firewood, made up the main source of wealth in the municipality.
The numerous coves on the Calvian coastline were not used as ports because of their shallow depth, and were only used for keeping the small fishing boats in the event of bad weather. Only the cove of Santa Ponça was used as a port for the commercialization of almonds.
This fact together with the poor limestone land in Calvia, that didn't permit a good cereal exploitation, there are other elements to bear in mind to explain the poverty of the village:
The structure of the land property, characterized by the division of land into large estates( latifundismo). This system, which lead the economic and social life in Calvià between the XIV century until well entering XX century, is characterized by the concentration of the most part of the land in the hands of the few, and in this case in the hands of the nobility of Palma.
The conservation of the system "hereu". This system consists in that the most part of the inheritance passed to the eldest son. In other words, three quarters of the inheritance pass to the eldest son and the rest, called the legitimate, had to be divided between the rest of the children, either in money or in property and land etc.
All these elements had the result of causing a social structure characterized by a high number of peasants, workers and some large proprietors, nobility from the city, who lived in the city but controlled and because rich from the exploitation of the large possession managed by masters andfarm managers and cultivated by peasants and workers. Small proprietors almost didn't exist.
This structured situation, together with some bad years of cereals, when wheat was the main food of the population, resulted in mass emigrations and the end of the XIX century, and the first half of the XX century to areas such as Algiers, Argentina and Cuba.
Possessions in Calvià.
Urban houses
The municipal boundary of Calvia has two historical city centres, Calvià Village and Es Capdellà where you can see some houses that have a heritage interest. Amongst these, we can point out: Can Verger, Can Ros and Es Pontet.
Mills
This is one of the few types of ethnological heritage that are catalogued and protected. Others like the farm houses or the limeslate ovens aren't catalogued at the moment.
The mills reflect the intense agricultural activity that the municipal boundary of Calvia had up to the 1950's.
Amongst the most important we can point out:
