page_title: Bellver Castle
section_title: Origins and evolution
hierarchical_section_title: Bellver Castle / Origins and evolution
caption_attribution_description: English: Castell de Bellver, Palma de Mallorca. Main tower Deutsch: Castell de Bellver, Palma de Mallorca. Hauptturm NOTE: This image is a panorama consisting of 3 frames that were merged in Hugin. As a result, this image necessarily underwent some form of digital manipulation. These manipulations may include blending, blurring, cloning, and color and perspective adjustments. As a result of these adjustments, the image content may be slightly different than reality at the points where multiple images were combined. This manipulation is often required due to lens, perspective, and parallax distortions. Boarisch&#160;| Български&#160;| Dansk&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| Zazaki&#160;| Ελληνικά&#160;| English&#160;| Esperanto&#160;| Español&#160;| Eesti&#160;| Suomi&#160;| Français&#160;| Magyar&#160;| Italiano&#160;| 日本語&#160;| Македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| Polski&#160;| Português&#160;| Русский&#160;| Slovenščina&#160;| Svenska&#160;| Türkçe&#160;| 中文&#160;| Українська&#160;| +/− This image was created with Hugin
context_page_description: Bellver Castle is a Gothic-style castle on a hill 3 km to the west of the center of Palma on the Island of Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. It was built in the 14th century for King James II of Majorca, and is one of the few circular castles in Europe. First serving as the residence of the Kings of Majorca, and afterward long used as a military prison throughout the 18th to mid-20th century, it is now under civilian control, being one of the main tourist attractions of the island, as well as the seat for the city's History Museum.
context_section_description: The castle's plan, a circular floor with round towers attached to it, seems to have been inspired by the upper complex of the Herodion, a 15 BCE hilltop palace in the West Bank, that was also circular and had a large principal tower and three minor towers as well. They are attached while the principal one is coupled to the complex by a high bridge over the surrounding moat.
  The main part of the fortification was built by architect Pere Salvà, who also worked in the construction of the Royal Palace of La Almudaina, together with other master masons between 1300 and 1311 for King James II of Aragon and Majorca. Rock from the hill where the castle sits was used for the building, which has eventually led to the appearance of cracks.
  Once the castle had been built, and following the introduction of artillery, the battlements on the top balconies and the barbican disappeared, being soon followed by those in every tower; loopholes were built instead.
caption: Donjon of the Bellver Castle
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