Mallorca has long been known as one of Europe's very popular sunny getaways. Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands, an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea comprising Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. Over the past 20 years Mallorca has become a mecca for cyclists looking for beautiful weather, idyllic cycling roads, superb coffee, and thousands of fellow cyclists. The estimated 300,000 cyclists a year who visit this cycling paradise have discovered that the bicycle is the ideal transportation to explore this historic island.

Archaeological evidence indicates that people have inhabited the islands for thousands of years. In 38 BC, Mallorca became a part of the Roman Empire. The language and customs of Rome, including Christianity, were assimilated by the island's population.

In AD711, Arabs invaded the Iberian Peninsula, mainland Spain, but Mallorca and other Balearic islands remain autonomous until AD902.

As legend would have it, Isam al_khawlani, a rich Muslim traveling form his home in Cordoba unwittenly bumped into Mallorca on his way home to Mecca. He loved the island so much he went home to ask his boss, the Emir, if he could conquer the place. The Emir said, sure why not, and Isam returned to Mallorca and took over the place, proclaiming himself governor (wali) of Mallorca. The city of Palma was then known as Medina Mayurqa.

Before Isam came to Mallorca, the island had been looking decidedly desolate. Its ancient cities were in ruins, agriculture was at a stand still and there was generally not much happening there.

Isam, that would be Governor Isam, set about rebuilding the main city(now Palma) and adapting it to the needs of his people. Indeed, Frederic Chopin, upon visiting the island in 1838, wrote about Palma's "Arab look", which can still be seen today: the dark narrow, winding street in the central Portella quarter, for example, seem to evoke the intricate layout of medieval kasbahs, or marketplaces. Secret patios and gardens hidden behind walls and doors of the city palaces and many individual decorative details are also reminiscent of Arab style and taste.

Under Isam, Mallorca became a dependant province of Cordoba. From then on, for many years, the various governors of the island put their fleets to the service of rulers of the peninsula.

1115 - Medina Mayurqa suffers a fierce attack by Pisans and Catalans united in an attempt to eradicate piracy by Mallorcan Moors in the Mediterranean. The city is conquered, but the Moors persuade the attackers to sell the island back to them, albeit for vast sums of money. The Moorish domination of the island continues.

1127 - The Almoravide dynasty makes Mallorca an independent sovereignty. For nearly 50 years, Mallorca dominates North Africa, from the Maghreb and tripoli to the Sahara. The Almohades, about whom little is known, were the last Arab rulers of Mallorca.

By the time the Christians invaded Mallorca, less than 30 years later, Medina Mayurqa was a well-organized and technologically advanced city rule by a sophisticated upper class. Efficient irrigation systems were used to create many wonderful gardens, including that in Alphabet, and those hidden within the great walls of the Almudaina Palace.

1229 - An army of Catalans, led by the young Jaime I, invaded Mallorca. The invasion caused a complete and violent rupture with the island's Islamic past.

Jaime I appointed an official called the King's deputy to govern the island. He divided most of the land among his noble followers, who in turn handed them over to their most valiant capitals, the cavallers. These soldiers and their descendants built the earliest country mansions (casa de possessio) in Mallorca.

Christians came to settle in Mallorca. Most are Catalans from the Ampurdan region, and they import and spread their traditions and language throughout the Balearic Islands.

The arts and architecture flourished.

1276 -Jaime II succeeds his father. Commissions the construction of the immense cathedral in Palma. Commissioned the conversion of the Almudaina Palace into the royal palaces in the villages of Valldemossa, Sineu and Manacor.

1324 - A childless King Sancho, son of Jaime II , dies, ending the independent status of Mallorca.

1343 - Following nearly 20 years of turbulence, Pere IV of Avalon annexed Mallorca to his reign. Sancho's nephew, Jaime III tried to reconquer the island, but died in action.

1375 - The death of Jaime IV ends all aspirations of the Mallorcan House, the descendants of Jaime the Conqueror.

1492 - The national and political unit of Spain is founded, of which Mallorca and other Balaeric Islands have since been a part.

13 and 14 Centuries - Monuments and buildings dating back to the Moors were changed and readapted by the Christains. The most impressive is the Almunaina Palace in the heart of Palma. Built for the Moorish wali Abu Yahya, this fort-like palace embraces an area of 20,000 square metres overlooking the sea. Since remodelled to suit the kings of Spain and Aragon, it has recently become a government building.

Mallorca established itself as an economic power and one of the major trading centres in the Mediterranean, developing significant trade with the eastern Mediterranean ports as well as with the Italian states of Genoa, Pisa and Florence. Its strategic geographic location also allowed it to become one of the main commercial centres for products from India and Africa.

All of this trading created a great deal of wealth. A new class of people, who were not descended from the old aristocracy of the cavellers, settled in Palma. The older families, who were now impoverished, welcomed the opportunity to marry into the new aristocratic families and their fresh money.

Through the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, Mallorcans continued to live grandly and build extravagant houses. The architecture design was influenced by the Italianate style.

Under the Hasburgs, the island's power as a trading centre began to wane. As a kingdom of Spain and of the Holy German Empire, Mallorca had to contribute arms, wealth and men to Charles V's increasingly expensive imperialistic dreams.

1806 - The city named 'La Ciutat de Mallorca' in 1276 is changed to Palma.

1833 - Isabel II crowned Queen of Spain. Celebrations in Palma last for three days.

1838-1839 - French composer Frederic Chopin and writer George Sand spend a disastrous winter in Mallorca. (Read Sand's bitter account in Un Hiver a Majorque.)

1875 - A railway is built between Palma and Inca.

1876 - Archduke Luis Salvador of Austria arrives on the island. His extensive published works about Mallorca attracted tourists in increasing numbers.

Early 20th Century, living in or visiting Mallorca was at the height of fashion.

Artist Joan Miro lived in Palma on and off between 1915 and 1919 painting landscapes. Novelist Gertrude Stein and her lover Alice B Toklas spend many months of 1914 on the island.