Sant Salvador is without any doubt the most distinctive landmark of the town. Within its walled grounds there is a chapel and the rooms of the lay brother.
The long flight of steps - 180 altogether - that leads up to Sant Salvador, starts from outside the parish church. Sant Salvador's high vantage point gives the visitor excellent views over the town of Artà and the whole municipality . It would appear that the origins of this erstwhile fortress go back to pre-Islamic times. In the Moorish era (10th to 13th centuries) and later, from the Catalonian conquest onwards, this fortification, known by the name of l'Amudaina (which means the 'citadel' or 'fortress'), had a defensive role and was used as a refuge by the villagers of the time. In the 16th century, when invasions of pirates and corsairs were a constant threat to the island coast, the walls were largely rebuilt; restoration of the walls was carried out in 1967. A diagram of the layout of the fortification would show it in the form of an ellipse 93 metres by 24 metres. On the walls, which are a metre thick, the square main tower, known as St. Michael's Tower, is worthy of note. The other eight turrets on the ramparts are semicircular. The chapel or sanctuary that takes pride of place in the precinct was built in the 19th century, when the previous place of worship was demolished, after being used as a lazaretto and hospital during the outbreak of bubonic plague in 1820. Devotion to St. Salvador goes back to the time of the Catalonian conquest in the 13th century. In the 15th century a figure of the Virgin Mary was moved to the sanctuary from the church of Bellpuig. From that moment on, devotion to St. Salvador was united with worship of the Mother of Our Lord.
The present place of worship, built in a Renaissance style, is in the form of a Latin cross with gables and does not have an apse. The vaulting of the nave has round arches with pilasters projecting from the side walls. One of the main features is the dome over the scallop shells of the transept; Salvador Torres painted the representation of Glory there in 1892.
Behind the main altar, the retable displays the figure of the Virgin. This polychrome wood carving was restored in 1952. Romanic in style, it is thought to be one of the oldest of such figures in Majorca which is still used for worship. It is very small - about 70 centimetres high - and represents a seated Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus in her lap.
The house of the lay brother, which was rebuilt in the 1970's, is the residence of the person responsible for the maintenance of the buildings and grounds. The cistern in front of the entrance portal to the sanctuary dates from the beginning of the 17th century. The other cistern or 'New Cistern' and the small square that surrounds it next to the church was restored in 1923.
• Picture gallery for Sant Salvador
