Lluch

Majorca`s most sacred site - a former monastery in a spectacular setting in the Serra de Tramuntana.
Lluch has been a centre of pilgrimage since the 13th century when an Arab shepherd boy, newly converted to Christianity, discovered a dark wooden statue of the Virgin in a cleft in the rock. The image was placed in the local church but three times it returned miraculously to its cave, whereupon the villagers recognised a message from God and built a shape to house it.

La Moreneta (`the Little Dark One`) is now encrusted with precious stones, and sits in a chapel decorated with the arms of every Mallorcan town. Pilgrims and tourists queue to pay homage, especialy on Sundays and before the daiy concerts by Es Blauets choir.

As well as the monastary, several restaurants and bars, there is also a museum - among the displays of ceramics, chalices and coins is a collection of paintings by the 20th-century Mallorcan artist Josep Coll Bardolet, with scenes from Deia, Valldemossa and Fornalutx.