SANTUARI DE CURA / RANDA / MALLORCA
The drive to Santuari di Cura feels like leaving the outside world behind.
After passing through the small village of Randa, you begin the dwindling ascent up the mountain Puig de Randa. The higher you go, the fewer houses you see and soon there is only nature around you, while the four corners of the Mallorca gradually become visible below and all around the mountain.
The drive lasts approximately five to ten minutes, before you enter the gate of the sanctuary, on which the words “Dear child, welcomes the Mother of God which is our blessing and health” are inscribed, a quote by Catalan philosopher Ramon Llull.
In 1274, Llull received his divine enlightenment in a cave at this spot, which would become the starting point of his life’s mission to introduce a new world order, developed according to an innovative philosophical system, conceived as a type of universal logic.
In recent years, he has been recognized as precursor of the computer. In the years that followed after his vision, the mountain top consolidated its position as a place of contemplation among those seeking spiritual enlightenment.
Llull’s followers were particularly drawn here, and soon established a hermitage and place of learning. In 1394, the Bishop of Mallorca testified that hermits resided permanently in these surroundings.
Through the centuries, the Santuario de Cura has combined a threefold dimension: Marian devotion, Llullian philosophy and a general quest for knowledge.
Today, the sanctuary contains a number of buildings and monuments, including a small museum and a chapel, as well as a small garden, in which a statue of St. Francis of Assisi has been placed.
The religious from Cura were known to live a simple and humble life, turning away from a material lifestyle to instead celebrate the natural and cultural heritage of this sacred mountain.
““The lodgings are modest and without extravagance.”
After almost a century of neglect, the buildings were restored in 1913, and the guestrooms were added in 1947.
Since 2014, the establishment is run by a local family, offering both rest for the night, no-thrills meals in the restaurant as well as the traditional Randa liqueur, still produced according to the recipe developed by the brothers of the monastery.
The lodgings are modest and without extravagance, more of a hostel than a hotel, but the beautiful scenery, breathtaking views and vibrant metaphysical energy of the site add qualities difficult to find anywhere else on the island.
This is a place for those seeking reflection, solitude and to reconnect with nature, rather than a five star-hotel experience.
