Valldemossa
In the northwest of Mallorca, in the middle of the Serra de Tramuntana region lies Valldemossa. The tranquil place at an altitude of over 400 meters was particularly appreciated by the former rulers, the kings of the Balearic island because of its tolerable summer climate. King Jaume II even had a palace built in Valldemossa, which his successor Sancho I later had further expanded, in order to create a retreat and “health resort” here, as he suffered from asthma. Because even for ailments of this kind, it is said that the climate in Valldemossa is well suited and curative.
Here it needs a title
But the most famous visitor to the place is probably the composer Frédéric Chopin, who together with the French author George Sand spent the winter of 1838/39 here. Sand later wrote down her memories of this episode in her novel “A Winter in Mallorca”, which also impressively describes the nature of the area in and around Valldemossa. The lovers spent the winter in a former Carthusian monastery from 1399, the Charterhouse of Valldemossa. The romantic stay of the two artists came to an abrupt end after barely three months due to the renewed deterioration of the tuberculosis disease from which Chopin was suffering. More than 100,000 visitors are recorded in the village each year, with the main part of this number probably due to the stay of the famous couple.
