Gordiola Glass Factory near Algaida, Mallorca
Drive from the finca towards Manacor and, after just a few minutes, something appears on the left that you would not expect in the middle of Mallorca: a battlemented castle with round towers, standing among almond trees. It is not a medieval fortress but the workshop of Gordiola — Mallorca’s oldest glassworks, and one of the finest places on the island to watch real craftsmanship happen. Entry to the workshop and showroom is free, and you can simply walk in.
Gordiola glassworks near Algaida: the furnaces have burned since 1719
The story begins in Palma in 1719, when a young craftsman named Blas Rigal was granted permission to run a glass furnace. It was financed by a merchant of the Gordiola family, who took full ownership in 1740 — and the family has run it ever since. Eleven generations later, the furnaces have never gone out.
For more than two hundred years the workshop stood in Palma’s old town, on Carrer de la Portella. Only in 1973 did Gordiola move out to the Ma-15 road between Palma and Manacor, into the municipality of Algaida. The castle-like building you see today was deliberately designed as a nod to the Almudaina palace in Palma — a little theatrical, but warmly so.
Inside the workshop: glass at over 1,000 degrees
The heart of the place is on the ground floor: the open workshop. Glassblowers stand at glowing furnaces where sand melts at more than 1,000 °C, working just a few metres away from you with no pane of glass in between. You watch a blob of molten glass hang from the long blowing iron, then get turned, blown and shaped with tongs and wooden moulds, cooling from orange through red to clear.
What surprises most visitors is the speed: a drinking glass takes only a few minutes. Every piece is made individually by hand, using techniques that have barely changed in three centuries. For children this is often the highlight of an entire Mallorca holiday — the heat, the fire, the hiss as the glass is quenched.
One planning note: the blowers mainly work on weekday mornings. If you want to see the furnaces genuinely in action, come early in the day — afternoons and weekends can be quiet. It is worth checking current times before you set off.
The glass museum: 3,000 pieces from antiquity to today
One floor up is the Museu del Vidre, opened by the family in 1977. With more than 3,000 objects on display, it counts as one of the largest private glass collections in the world — and it is far more rewarding than its modest entrance suggests.
The collection is arranged in three parts: a hall of antiquity with pieces from Rome, Greece, Byzantium, the Islamic world and Venice; a splendid “throne room” with stained-glass windows and imposing Gordiola chandeliers; and a world room showing glass art from many cultures, including Ming-era work. There is a specialist library too. The museum charges admission (recently around €8 for adults, reduced for seniors and children, free for small children) — it is best to check current prices and opening hours in advance.
A craft with a UNESCO seal
Since December 2023, the knowledge and skills of handmade glass production have been inscribed on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage — a joint listing in which Spain took part alongside Germany, France, Finland, Czechia and other countries. Spain had previously named Gordiola as one of its two representatives of the tradition. So what you see here is not a tourist demonstration but a living craft that is formally recognised as worth protecting.
Something to take home — and the best time to come
The showroom is generous and pleasantly free of pressure. The classics are the Mallorcan fanals (glass lanterns), chandeliers, vases, coloured drinking glasses and the drip-free oil jugs that stand in kitchens all over the island. Small pieces start at just a few euros; the range runs all the way up to large one-off works.
September is a particularly good month for a visit: the fiercest heat has passed, which makes standing near the furnaces far more comfortable, and the island grows noticeably calmer. And on a grey day, Gordiola is the obvious answer anyway — inside, the weather simply does not matter.
Practical details
- Where: Ctra. Ma-15 (Palma–Manacor), around km 19, municipality of Algaida — only a few minutes’ drive from Finca Mia Limon.
- Getting there: Easiest by car, right on the main road with its own car park. By bus, TIB line 490 stops at “Can Gordiola” (check timetables in advance).
- How long: 45 to 90 minutes covers the workshop, museum and shop comfortably.
- Combine it with: a stroll through Algaida, lunch at nearby Ca’l Dimoni, or the drive up to Puig de Randa.
From the finca, Gordiola is one of those outings that needs no real planning: drive over, spend an hour marvelling, come back with a warm piece of glass in your hands. That is exactly why Finca Mia Limon sits so well in the island’s interior — the real Mallorca starts right outside the door.