In 2002, when we visited Can Monroig for the first time, we fell in love with the house.
That small pointed arch, the stone slabs in one part of the house, the wide spaces, the state
so pure in which the house was located...
But what we were going to find in the reform was really surprising, it would take a few years before we discovered it.
Next to the arch that captivated us from the first moment we found the remains of what could have been a
stone bathtub. At first we thought it was a container for macerating the clay.
Confused by the name of the neighborhood, “gerrers” (potters), we interpreted everything we saw around us
around like the remains of a pottery shop.
The oven that we found below street level must have been a potter's oven, the silos would be water tanks or
clay and so on….
Pointed arch, and a large stone bathtub surrounded by smaller silos.
With access through a smaller portal that today connects with the neighboring house.
We knew that can Monroig was next to the old neighborhood of “el call” or Jewish quarter, but we did not know about this.
There was no doubt. According to the chronicles, it had burned down in the 14th century. When we removed the partitions and
floors added over the centuries, we find another large pointed arch covered in soot. A large stone beam
converted into a bank indicated that there were possibly more stone deposits that housed…
What???…Water, wine, clay, oil?….
We cannot say with certainty what Can Monroig was centuries ago. But without a doubt, this space
that we discovered a few years ago when we lifted floors, knocked down walls, rescued arches,
We unearthed ovens and emptied stone deposits, it must have been part of the Jewish community quarter
of Inca or of the Muslim community of Inca.
Synagogue, Mikveh, Mikvah, call, Arab baths…?
Stone silos around the tank.
Stone bathtub and stair treads
By removing some stone slabs, a few metres below street level, we found the remains of an ancient stone container. It was accessed through a small arch (today it connects to the neighbour's house), with some stairs leading in and out. In the background we can see the remains of an oven that was also found during the restoration works.
For a number of years we thought it was a potter's kiln, partly because the house is next to Gerrers Street (Potters' Street), partly because of the remains of pottery that were used as filler. Several pottery experts have assured us that the kiln is too small to fire pottery.
The current hypothesis is that it was a furnace used to heat the water in the tanks that surrounded it.
Small oven, Muslim type.
It was probably used to heat water.
In the courtyard, which was once covered by a cross vault, we find this stone tank. It communicates with another larger tank through a tap. Could it be a mikveh or small container?
where the Jews celebrated their purification rites?
Stone tank with steps
Silos and tanks built of stone that were found hidden when the ground was raised.
Gothic arch with traces of soot that remained hidden behind a partition.
House situated in Inca, Mallorca in the middle ages jewish quarter. Remains of several deposits or built of stone bathtubs that resemble the Mikveh where Jews conducted ritual baths or the purification appeared during its restoration.
Note from July 2014:
As of June 2014, the Council of Mallorca has authorized the archaeological intervention project on the remains of the oven located on the ground floor of Can Monroig. This study will be carried out by the archaeologist Jorge Argëllo Menéndez and we hope it will shed some light on the past of this house and the city of Inca.
English (UK) 
Español 
Deutsch (Sie) 
Français