Ariany
Ariany is a small, beautiful village on Mallorca, in the eastern part of the island near Petra and Santa Margalida.
The picturesque village on the plain is still an insider tip on the island.
The municipality between Petra and Santa Margalida in the northeast of the Comarca Plà de Mallorca (Es Pla) in the center of the Balearic island Mallorca counts currently about 860 inhabitants with an area of 23 km². The village name Ariany derives from the historical Arabic name "Arian" for largely unfree and frontier farmers ("Grundholde"), as they were typical for the extensive Moorish dominion "al-Andalus" on the Iberian peninsula between the 8th and 15th centuries. Archaeological finds in the area, however, had already inhabited the area at the time of the prehistoric Talayotic culture some 3,000 years ago. The picturesque town was first mentioned in a document during the reign of King James I of Aragón ("Jaume el Conqueridor"), who succeeded in reconquering Mallorca from the Moors in 1229/30. From the 16th to the 19th century, the municipal lands belonged to the noble family "Casa de Cotoner", which had been awarded the margraviate "Marquesado de Ariany" by the Spanish king Philip V of Anjou in 1717 for merits in the Spanish War of Succession.
The town is connected to distant Madrid by the Virgin of Atocha.
The further development of the small village in the 19th and 20th centuries was largely inconspicuous. Like most places in the Mallorcan "granary" Es Pla, which was known for its intensive agriculture but only sparsely populated and for a long time poorly served by transport, the village of the so-called "Arianyers" also fell for a long time into a kind of "Sleeping Beauty's Sleep". The local church "Nuestra Señora dAtocha" from 1737, which houses a replica of the most revered patron saint of the Spanish capital Madrid, the "Virgen de Atocha" (Virgin of Atocha), was nationally known to relevant culture lovers. The sacral building, built in the classical style of its time in Gothic and Romanesque with a cross-shaped ground plan, filigree rose windows, balustrade and arched entrance, was extended by a bell tower and a dome in 1818 and 1908 to 1913. Until today the "Iglesia Nuestra Señora dAtocha" is the most famous historical building of the village. The venerable road crosses such as the "Creu de les Voltes de Son Bonany" and the "Creu de la Plaça de l'Església" are also picturesque. The same applies to the seven windmills from the early 20th century and the former nucleus of the village, the manor house in Calle de s'Auberg next to the church.
Slowly, even holidaymakers seeking peace and quiet discover the small village.
You can also visit the monastery of the Franciscan sisters "Ca ses Monges" in Calle Mayor and the public fountain "Pou Bo", presumably of Moorish origin, about 300 metres from the centre on the Camino de Son Gibert. Apart from that, the village of Ariany, which has been independent of the neighbouring village of Petra since 1982, is just as quiet, relaxed and almost sleepy today as it has been for centuries. Exactly this circumstance attracts nowadays, however, more and more frequently day excursionists for short visits and flying visits who want to escape the other hustle and bustle on Mallorca for a few hours or days. A modern and stylish hotel ("Es Convent"), housed in an extensively renovated monastery, offers accommodation. You can also stay overnight in a guesthouse ("Ca Na Cris") in the Carrer Porvenir. A supermarket and small shops are available for the supply of drinks and food. It is a bit fuller on the spot regularly around the 17th of January on the occasion of the celebration in honour of the local patron saint San Antonio as well as each year at the end of July and August with the Fiestas to the communal independence and the memory of the "Virgen de Atocha".
