Església de Santa Magdalena

Palma de Mallorca


The main claim to fame of the baroque Església de Santa Magdalena is as the resting place of Santa Catalina Thomàs of Valldemossa. Her clothed remains are visible through a glass coffin held in a chapel to the left of the altar and are an object of pilgrimage.

It is said that the future saint sat weeping by a great clump of stone one day as none of the convents would accept her because she was too poor. When someone told her that the convent once attached to the Església de Santa Magdalena would take her in, she was overjoyed. The stone in question is now embedded in the rear wall of the 14th-century Església de Sant Nicolau on Plaça del Mercat. The nuns here make pastas de Santa Magdalena (sponge buns) and other sweet treats for sale to the public from a hatch located on a sidestreet to the right of the entrance.