Qualla: Castle of Capdepera https://qualla.com/castle-of-capdepera en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:30 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/4/3/castle-of-capdepera-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Castle of Capdepera https://qualla.com/castle-of-capdepera Castle of Capdepera: Introduction https://qualla.com/castle-of-capdepera/ Photo credit MARIA ROSA FERRE, CC BY-SA 2.0. The bonfires burned all night. From Menorca, thirty miles across the channel, they looked like the campfires of an enormous army massing for invasion. That was the idea. King James I of Aragon, having just conquered Majorca, needed his troops for the campaign against Valencia and could not afford another amphibious assault. So he ordered bonfires lit along the hilltop at Capdepera, on Majorca's northeastern tip -- enough fires to make the Muslim Menorcans believe a vast force was preparing to cross the strait. The ruse worked. Menorca's leaders surrendered without a fight, and at this very castle, James I signed the Treaty of Capdepera, securing the island through deception rather than blood.

Read more: Castle of Capdepera on Qualla

Image: MARIA ROSA FERRE | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/4/3/castle-of-capdepera-wp/sp43-castle-of-capdepera-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Castle of Capdepera: Layers of Conquest https://qualla.com/castle-of-capdepera/ Photo credit MARIA ROSA FERRE, CC BY-SA 2.0. The hilltop at Capdepera has been fortified longer than anyone can precisely date. Romans built the first defensive structure here, drawn by the same strategic advantage that every subsequent occupier recognized: the hill commands views of both the surrounding land and the sea ch...

Read more: Castle of Capdepera on Qualla

Image: MARIA ROSA FERRE | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/4/3/castle-of-capdepera-wp/sp43-castle-of-capdepera-layers-of-conquest.mp3 0:06 2 full Castle of Capdepera: James and the Bonfire Bluff https://qualla.com/castle-of-capdepera/ Photo credit Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0. The Treaty of Capdepera, signed at the castle, was one of the more elegant military deceptions of the medieval period. James I had conquered Majorca, but Menorca remained under Muslim control, and the king lacked the resources for a sustained naval campaign. Instead, he exploited...

Read more: Castle of Capdepera on Qualla

Image: Olaf Tausch | CC BY 3.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/4/3/castle-of-capdepera-wp/sp43-castle-of-capdepera-james-and-the-bonfire-bluff.mp3 0:06 3 full Castle of Capdepera: A Walled Town on a Hill https://qualla.com/castle-of-capdepera/ Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. The castle visitors see today dates primarily from the fourteenth century. King James II, who had already founded the town of Capdepera in 1300, ordered the scattered local population to consolidate within a walled enclosure built around one of the existing watchtowers, now known...

Read more: Castle of Capdepera on Qualla

Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/4/3/castle-of-capdepera-wp/sp43-castle-of-capdepera-a-walled-town-on-a-hill.mp3 0:06 4 full Castle of Capdepera: Abandonment and Return https://qualla.com/castle-of-capdepera/ Photo credit Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0. Military troops occupied the Castle of Capdepera until 1854, when the garrison was withdrawn and the fortress was abandoned. For nearly 130 years, the castle passed into private ownership and gradually deteriorated. In 1983, the private owners donated the castle to the Capdepera ...

Read more: Castle of Capdepera on Qualla

Image: Olaf Tausch | CC BY 3.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/p/4/3/castle-of-capdepera-wp/sp43-castle-of-capdepera-abandonment-and-return.mp3 0:06 5 full