Muro Mallorca

This small town between Inca and the S'Albufera marshes has one overriding attraction the Museu Etnologic de Mallorca. This museum, housed in a former mansion, gives fascinating glimpses into Mallorca's past. The kitchen contains pottery similar to what you see in the markets today; the recreated pharmacy has a pair of scales in the shape of a crucifix. Upstairs there is a fine collection of siurells (clay whistles) featuring men on horseback, carrying water and playing guitars.

A courtyard with a well, a waterwheel and orange trees leads to more exhibits blacksmith's and cobbler's workshops, a collection of carriages, and tools once used by silversmiths, sculptors and spoon makers. The Catalan Gothic church of Sant Joan Baptista looks almost Arabic, guarded by palm trees and a tall, square bellower linked to the main church by a tiny bridge. Rebuilt in the 16th century, it has a colorful rose window over the west door. Another church, the convent of Santa Anna, used to stage fights between bulls and bulldogs, and bullfights can still be seen at the Plaa de Taros, built out of white stone in its own quarry in 1910.

Sa Pobla, 4km north of Muro, is Mallorca's vegetable basket; this fertile area of marshes reclaimed as farmland is referred to as 'the land of a thousand windmills'. It is also the home of one of Mallorca's most unusual festivals, the Revelta de Sant Antoni. For two days each January pets are led through the town to be blessed outside the church, dancers drive out the Devil for the coming year, and everyone eats pastries filled with spicy spinach and marsh eels.