Pedro IV., the Ceremonious, after a turbulent reign of fifty years, occupied chiefly in unjust quarrels with his relations and neighbours, at last died in 1396. His sons, Martin and Juan, were rightful heirs to Majorca, the family of their Majorcan cousins having become extinct. His daughter Leonor, wife of Juan I. of Castille, was the mother of Henry III. of Castille, and also of Fernando (surnamed of Antequera from having taken that town from the Moors), who, when the male line of Aragon failed on the death of King Martin, became King of Aragon.
An ancient and most touching memorial of Jayme IV. and his sister Isabel is still preserved at Alfavia by the descendants of their true and faithful friends of the Santa Cilia family. The estate was held by the Santa Cilia family for five generations, when the heiress Leonor married Gabriel de Berga. The heiress of Berga married Zaforteza, and Don Josè Burguez Zaforteza is now the owner of Alfavia and guardian of the relic.
The country seat of Alfavia, at the foot of the mountain pass leading to the valley of Soller, is surrounded by enchanting scenery. In front there are two fir-clad mountain-peaks, with just a peep between them of the garden of Palma, the cathedral, and the blue Mediterranean. All round there are precipitous mountains, the lower slopes in terraces planted with lemon and orange trees. The beautiful garden is famous for a long pergola covered with flowing creepers, having a fountain in each arch on either side. The entrance to the courtyard is by a wide and lofty passage, and the first compartment of its roof is a reminder of the Moorish origin of the house. It is a dome in the style of the roofs at the Alhambra, the colours still visible. Round the margin, or cornice, there is an Arabic inscription, which has been thus translated:
‘Precept is of God: power is of God: mercy is of God: God is most great, there is no God but Him: wealth consists in God.’
On the walls of the passage the coats-of-arms are painted of the families which have owned Alfavia since Moorish times:
I. Ben nassar (_or a lion rampant gules_). II. Santa Cilia (_argent three bars gules_). III. Berga (_azure five crescents or_). IV. Burgues (_or twelve crescents azure_). V. Zaforteza (_gules three fleurs-de-lys or_).