Basílica Paleocristiana de Son Peretó: A Late Antique Christian Basilica in Mallorca
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Classical
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Classical, Medieval
- Civilizations
- Byzantine, Roman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Basilica
On this page9 sections
History
The Basílica Paleocristiana de Son Peretó is a Late Antique Christian church near Manacor, Spain, built in the period of early Christian architecture that continued into the early Middle Ages. Its exact construction date is unknown, but it was functioning as a place of Christian worship by the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. Located between Manacor and Sant Llorenç des Cardassar on Mallorca, the basilica formed part of the island’s early Christian landscape.
Late Antique church
The church remained in use into a later phase of Late Antiquity. Its interior mosaics date to the sixth century and combine figurative and geometric decoration with artistic influences from North Africa and Palestine. The basilica probably suffered destruction in a fire during the seventh or eighth century. Several graves were later placed inside the baptistery, an unusual arrangement in relation to the building’s liturgical function. Their date cannot be established because the area did not retain a single uniform floor covering.
Discovery and archaeological work
A farmer found a floor mosaic while working on the Son Peretó estate in 1908, about five kilometres northeast of Manacor. From 1912, Joan Aguiló i Pinya, a priest and amateur archaeologist who had acquired the area after the discovery, excavated the remains. Josep Puig i Cadafalch, a Catalan architect, historian, and politician known for studying historical architecture, publicized Aguiló’s discoveries in 1920.
The municipality of Manacor acquired the excavated mosaics and other objects in 1926 with the intention of creating an archaeological museum. These materials are now held by the Historical Museum of Manacor. Excavations resumed in 1967 under the archaeologist Pere de Palol i Salellas, whose research focused on Late Antique and early medieval archaeology. Work in the 1980s involved the University of the Balearic Islands, the University of Barcelona, and the Museum of Mallorca. Aguiló’s niece donated the land to Manacor Town Council in 1982.
Since 2005, the Historical Museum of Manacor and the University of Barcelona have undertaken further excavation, mapping, conservation, and restoration. A 2012 campaign formed part of this programme and was directed by Miguel Ángel Cau of the University of Barcelona, Magdalena Salas Burguera of the Historical Museum of Manacor, and Mateu Riera Rullan of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The excavated site was registered as an archaeological monument on 3 June 1931 under code RI-51-0000413.
Remains
Basilica
Plan and mosaics
The basilica measures approximately 21 metres in length and 14 metres in width. Its plan follows an approximately east-west orientation, although the principal axis turns slightly towards the southeast at the sanctuary and altar. This alignment was apparently intended to face Jerusalem and evoke the Christian idea of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the perfected celestial city described in biblical and theological tradition. Three naves formed the church, with two rows of columns separating the central nave from the side aisles. The roof probably used large flat roof tiles, known as tegulae, laid over wooden beams.
Mosaics covered the entire interior floor. Made mainly from white, red, and black tesserae, the individual pieces used to form the designs, they include birds, geometric motifs, and a paradisical scene in the central nave. Only several palm trees from that central composition survive. Some restored sections of the mosaic pavement are displayed at the Historical Museum of Manacor.
Sanctuary and burials
The sanctuary occupied the eastern end of the church, where the altar stood in the apse, the curved termination of the building. The surviving foundation stone is kept by the Historical Museum of Manacor. The altar was formed by a four-legged table set into a rectangular sandstone base, with a reliquary chest, a container for sacred relics, placed beneath the table at the centre of the base.
Several funerary slabs were recovered from the basilica. One is Baleria’s lauda, a decorated grave slab with a mosaic funerary inscription. Other excavated material includes a gravestone bearing a Byzantine cross. These objects, together with the altar foundation stone and sections of the floor mosaics, are preserved in the Historical Museum of Manacor.
Baptistery
A baptistery, the building or room used for Christian baptism, was attached to the western side of the basilica. It contains two cross-shaped baptismal pools, with the smaller pool to the west and the larger pool to the east. The eastern basin has steps descending into it on two sides, indicating a rite that involved complete immersion in water rather than only pouring or sprinkling. Graves were also found within the baptistery, giving the structure an additional funerary use at a later stage.
Adjoining rooms and later conservation
Buildings adjoining the baptistery on its western and southern sides contained residential, storage, and funerary rooms. The site’s restored walls rise above the original surviving height to clarify the overall form of the complex. A row of bricks just above ground level marks the boundary between the ancient masonry and these later additions. Finds associated with the excavations include a ceramic vessel dated between the fifth and tenth centuries, as well as coins, jewellery pendants, glass, and ceramic remains recovered south of the baptistery in 2011.
The 2011 work also uncovered the grave of a man who was more than 60 years old. He may have been a priest or bishop, although that identification remains uncertain. The basilica and baptistery were restored during the 1980s, while subsequent campaigns have continued to conserve the surviving structures, mosaics, and excavated objects.
