Sant Joan de Missa

The photograph you can see above shows a little parish church named after St. John the Baptist.

Whenever you go the southern beaches of

• Son Saura
• Macarella or
• Turqueta

you will pass by the Sant Joan de Missa church.

This church plays an important part in the yearly San Juan festival in Ciutadella:

After the riders have made circles around the Plaza del Borne, an event known as caragol ("snail"), they leave the town via the Camí de Sant Joan de Missa, the same road you take when going to the above-mentioned beaches.

Meanwhile the people and visitors of Ciutadella are fighting a mock "hazelnut battle".

The church, formerly called Sant Joan d‘Artruix, is a gorgeous countryside white-washed building and the namesake of the festival. (The whole south of Ciutadella used to be called Artruix during Arab times).

This hermitage, about 3 kilometers from Ciutadella, is also a good place to wait for the horses as Ciutadella might be too crowded for your taste on that day.

Nearby:

The prehistoric village of Bellaventura