La Seu (Palma Cathedral)

Inside La Seu

La Seu sits right on Palma’s seafront, a great golden block of Gothic stone that dominates the old town skyline. It is the one sight here genuinely worth booking ahead in high season — queues at the door build steadily through the morning, and a timed online ticket walks you straight past them. General entry starts from around €10; confirm the current price on the official site.

Inside, the headline is the rose window — one of the largest Gothic examples anywhere — which on a sunny morning throws a wash of coloured light across the nave. But La Seu has two surprises that lift it above a standard cathedral visit. Antoni Gaudi reworked the sanctuary in the early 1900s, hanging a wrought-iron canopy over the altar and pulling the choir forward. And the Miquel Barcelo chapel, finished in 2007, is a sprawling modern ceramic relief of loaves, fishes and rippling clay — genuinely unlike anything else in a building this old. The clash of medieval and modern is the point.

Timing and the photo

The cathedral is open roughly Monday to Saturday, with hours that shorten in winter; it is closed to tourist visits on Sundays, when it opens for worship only, so plan around that. Allow about an hour inside. Rooftop terrace tours are sold separately and tend to sell out, so grab those early if they appeal.

When you come out, walk down to Parc de la Mar, the park and shallow lake on the seaward side. The entire facade reflects in the water — the classic postcard image of Palma, and it costs nothing. Go when the sun is on the stone for the best of it. Between the interior and the reflection, La Seu is comfortably the most rewarding hour in the city, and the rare Palma sight that justifies planning your day around it.