PALMA DE MALLORCA
What I’m about to share today is a beautiful story — and what makes stories beautiful (besides the content) are always the details.
Let’s start with the name of an Italian city you may not know much about: Ascoli Piceno, a small town in central Italy. Then let’s add the name of the lead actor in Gladiator, the iconic film by Ridley Scott — Russell Crowe. And finally, my friend Pierfrancesco from Ascoli, with whom I studied at university in Bologna and whom I happened to reconnect with 20 years later here in Mallorca, where he now runs a charming beachfront restaurant.
One summer morning, as I was reading the newspaper, I came across a surprising piece of news: in Ascoli’s Piazza del Popolo, the former Gladiator had made a declaration that thrilled the crowd:
“My ancestor Luigi Ghezzi left Italy a long time ago, in 1850. He left Ascoli and never came back. But tonight I’ve come home — and I’m a man of Ascoli.”
Thrilled by the news, I texted my friend: “Russell Crowe is from Ascoli!”
His response opened a door to a little-known world — one that gave its name to the place I now live in, where Hotel BonSol was born 71 years ago:
“If that surprises you, look into the origin of the name Palma de Mallorca.”
Intrigued, I turned to Wikipedia:
“Palma was originally a Picene, and later Roman, city founded in the 6th century BCE. The name likely derived from the abundance of palm trees in the area. The city was located on a hill south of the Ete River, and was known for having a strategically important port for Adriatic trade.
The Picene city of Palma likely lent its name to the Roman colony of Palma on the island of Mallorca — today the capital of the island.
It’s probable that settlers from the Picene region colonized the island and named the new city after their homeland (just as the city of Pollenza lent its name to the Mallorcan city of Pollentia).”
Even more astonishing: my wife and I got married in Torre di Palme, a small village in Le Marche, whose origins trace back to the ancient Picene city of Palma — the very one that, centuries later, gave its name to Palma de Mallorca.
But what did these ancient Roman colonies have in common?
Palm trees.
The Mediterranean basin is rich in vegetation from the Phoenix genus, particularly in Mallorca, where two species are most prominent: the dwarf palm (Chamaerops humilis) and the Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis).
The dwarf palm, native to the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, has been used for centuries to make ropes for fishing nets, saddle bags, mats, and brooms. Over time, this craft evolved into an art form — weaving palm for hats, bags, religious and decorative objects. Think of the beautiful Sol de Palmas by Joan Miró or the palm tree featured in the painting La Casa de la Palmera. All of which speaks to the symbolic and artistic value of the palm.
For the Romans, it represented victory. For the Greeks, it was a symbol of glory, given to champions and heroic warriors. A palm leaf was a mark of great respect.
The tradition of palm weaving in Mallorca is still alive — for religious ceremonies like Palm Sunday, for decoration, and above all, as an art form. I highly recommend you see it for yourself with a walk through Palma’s old town, especially to Carrer de la Concepció, 17, where you’ll find a historic shop called Alpargatería la Concepción.
There, alongside their famous espardenyes (traditional shoes), you’ll find handwoven palm baskets crafted according to age-old tradition. María and Aurora, the mother-daughter duo who own and run the shop, will guide you through a world of craftsmanship passed down through generations.
And we are incredibly grateful to them for keeping this small cultural heritage alive — one that originated in a distant Roman colony called Palma and has endured to this day.
Not by chance, this beloved shop has created a limited-edition collection of beautiful beach baskets for BonSoul, woven with llengües mallorquines — the island’s iconic textile pattern — coming very soon to our online store.
Stay tuned!