Santuari de Sant Salvador d'Artà

From the terrace inside the walls, Artà's countryside spreads out below: almond orchards, olive groves, the hills of the Massís d'Artà, the Torre de Canyamel and the coast beyond. Straight down the slope sits the fortified Gothic parish church of Transfiguració del Senyor, joined to the sanctuary by the Calvary staircase, 180 steps climbing between cypresses and stone crosses.

The walls make the hilltop. Nine towers and a wall a metre thick ring the church and its outbuildings, and the towers themselves give the widest view.

Inside the church of 1832 stands a painted, carved wooden Romanesque Virgin, which the tradition of the White Canons says James I brought to the island during the conquest of Mallorca. A room inside the church displays sacred objects and vestments.

• Check the opening hours before you go if seeing inside the church matters to you.
• There is a café at the top, and toilets that charge a fee.
• Drinking water is free from taps about 300 m away in a straight line.
• A back gate opens onto the Calvary stairs, which lead straight down to the parish church: walk up one way and down the other.

The old town's streets climb steep and narrow from the foot of the hill, with the fortress walls above them the whole way. By car, the nearest car park lies about 70 m from the church in a straight line, with a pleasant walk up from it to the walls; a second one, about 130 m away, is for customers only. Parking behind the hill and walking up to the walls makes a longer approach.

On foot from the centre, start at the parish church of Transfiguració del Senyor and take the Calvary staircase: 180 steps between cypresses and stone crosses, ending at the sanctuary. Buses stop at Artà 1 and Artà 2 in the town, about 660 m away in a straight line, and the rest is uphill through the old streets.

Best: late afternoon, when low light falls across the orchards and the coast below the walls.

Avoid: the middle of a summer day, when the 180 steps and the open hilltop take the full heat.

Tuesday adds the town's street market on Plaça del Conqueridor (except on public holidays), and the festival of Sant Salvador on 5, 6 and 7 August gives the sanctuary its busiest days of the year.