9. The Cathedral stairs, Saint Domingo and the destruction of our cultural heritage during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

©Text i fotos: Àngel Gené i Ramis; traducció a l'anglès: Montserrat Casanovas i Stobart; suport informàtic: Martí Gené i Ramis

Stairs like this one next to the Cathedral connected the upper part (“Canamunt”) to the lower part of Palma (“Canavall”).
On the right, we can see the convent of Santo Domingo (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries), the most beautiful Mallorcan Gothic convent. Unfortunately, it disappeared in 1835 under the demagogy of the 19th - century progressivism and because the inquisitors had been Dominicans.

We call it demagogy because once the convent was fallen down the land became object of a major real estate speculation (as they were large pieces of land in the city centre). It created a dangerous precedent for many speculative operations that will take during the twentieth century.
With Santo Domingo many fragments of the old Roman wall, the Jewish quarters, and the wall of the 10th-century caliphate also disappeared. Parts of the Cathedral and the Almudaina Palace also disappeared.
A Medieval narrow and winding street next to the Royal Palace was replaced with a small square and a broader street.
On the left, we can see the Islamic wall of the Almudaina Palace.