The APB honours the Chapel of Sant Elm in the Port of Palma for International Archives Day

The APB honours the Chapel of Sant Elm in the Port of Palma for International Archives Day

The exhibition includes historian Juan Pou Muntaner's bibliographic material, which was donated last April

Palma

05/06/2024
History Port-city

The Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) is celebrating International Archives Day on 9 June with an exhibition dedicated to the Chapel of Sant Elm, following the request by the Archive's staff. This exhibition aims to raise public awareness of the history of this religious building, currently located in the Contramoll-Mollet in the Port of Palma.

On Thursday 6th June from 10 am to 7 pm and Friday 7th June from 10 am to 2 pm, visitors can discover the secrets of this small chapel that has always formed part of Palma's maritime façade, but which has taken on different spaces over the course of its history. As such, the display features a booklet entitled Noticias, traslado y restitución al culto de la Iglesia de San Telmo (News, transfer and restoration to worship of the Church of San Telmo), which dates back to 1947, a map of the Port of Palma from 1853, as well as records from the Construction Board of the Port of Palma referring to the chapel and reproductions of the pictures of boats painted on tiles that are currently on display in the religious building.

 

A tour has also been prepared starting at the APB's institutional headquarters and ending at the Chapel of Sant Elm, in the Contramoll Mollet, to discover what all the historical maritime pieces on display in the open air in this section of the Port of Palma mean to the public.

 

Bibliographic material donated to the APB last April by historian Juan Pou Muntaner will also be on display at the exhibition. The Archive team has reconstructed the historian's office with personal objects donated by the family, such as the plaque commemorating the Ciutat de Palma prize and some photographs he kept on his desk. Original maritime and port-related documents compiled by the historian will also be on display.

 

Bibliographic material donated by historian Juan Pou Muntaner

The APB announced that in April the historian Juan Pou Muntaner, author of numerous works dedicated to marine history and the history of Mallorca in the 19th century, had donated bibliographic material to its archive.

 

The donation, made by his nephew José Francisco Roig Palliser, includes magazines, bulletins, textbooks, collections, encyclopaedias and reports on maritime and port-related subjects. Of particular note is a collection of reports from the port of Palma, dating from 1965 to 1997. The donation also includes reports from the Trasmediterránea company (1918-1935) and the Unión Naval de Levante (1957-1981).

 

Through this donation, the port organisation's archive has added more than a thousand documents over the last few months, helping to create a historical snapshot of the Balearic Islands' ports.