The village of Deià in Mallorca is located in the middle of the breathtaking Tramuntana mountain range, which flows into the crystal clear Mediterranean Sea.
Here is where the beauty of nature, earthly pleasures, social harmony and great restaurants and cafes are combined. Relaxed, friendly, inspiring atmosphere combined with a little eccentricity. This is due to the fact that artists, musicians and writers from all over the world have settled here.
Traditional stone-built fincas make up the architecture of the village, offering a breathtaking sight against the bright blue sky. Just imagine the sunset when the mountains are bathed in an explosion of different shades of red and orange. You can enjoy the unique beauty of the Tramuntana Mountains on various hiking trails. In the middle of this idyllic village is the house of the poet and writer Robert Graves. (1895 - 1985).
He lived in Deià from 1929 until his death. His residence in Deià was taken over by the Robert Graves Foundation and has been restored and adapted for visitors. The residence has been open to visitors since the summer of 2006.
Robert Graves was born in London in 1895. His father was Irish, his mother German. He attended school in Charterhouse. He was an officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers during World War I and was seriously wounded in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He is known as one of the war poets.
He married Nancy Nicholson after the war, with whom he had four children. He graduated from Oxford in 1925. By this time he had already published several volumes of poetry and collections of essays.
In 1926 he began a thirteen-year collaboration with Laura Riding. When his marriage to Nancy finally broke up, he and Laura moved to Deià, Mallorca, where he built a house with the proceeds from his war memoir, Good-bye to All That. To pay off a mortgage, he published his bestseller I, Claudius in 1934.
However, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, the couple left the island. But when this relationship also broke down, he started another family with his new wife Beryl. With the family he returned to his house in Deià in 1946, where he lived until his death in 1985.
Robert Graves is one of the great love poets in English of the twentieth century, and his memoirs, his historical novels and books on mythology are widely read.
The "Fundació Robert Graves" was founded in 2003 with the participation of the Autonomous Government of the Balearic Islands and the City Council of Deià. It is under the auspices of the Council of Culture, Education and Universities of the Government of the Balearic Islands.
The" Fundació Robert Graves" is a non-profit public institution. Its aim is to make Graves' work better known in Spain and to maintain a permanent exhibition in honor of his life and work. It does this by opening his house "Ca n'Alluny" in Deià to the public. The Foundation acquired the property and furnishings in 2005, and "La Casa de Robert Graves" was opened to the public in July 2006.
In carrying out its tasks, the Foundation takes care to preserve the reputation and literary figure of Robert Graves.
This area is in the famous Serra de Tramuntana, very close to Valldemossa where you can visit La Cartuja, the Chopin museum and stroll through the streets of this emblematic village.