Menorca, Balearic Islands
After a relaxing day at sea heading north-east through the Mediterranean we arrived at the Balearic island of Menorca just after sunrise. Menorca is the first part of Spain over which the sun rises due to its most easterly location. This led the Americans to build a radar station here during the cold war, decommissioned in the early 1990s. The Balearic Islands derive their name from an ancient hunting slingshot, the ‘Balais’.
Tasty olives, figs, capers and citrus fruits are seen here, however the island is better-suited to raising animals. Official figures suggest 25,000 cattle and sheep although actual figures are probably higher. The landscape is shaped into small fields by over 15,000 kilometers of dry stone walls. Friesian cattle are the predominant breed producing 85 million liters of milk each year and Menorca produces fine cheeses. Other traditional industries are shoe-making and production of a local gin that is made from grapes instead of the normal grain.
We arrived into Ciudadela, the former capital and wandered the narrow maze-like streets. The cathedral is the only main public building that remained after the Turkish invasion of 1558, when thousands of citizens were enslaved in Constantinople. Today the buildings are of beautiful Catalan Gothic style, a mixture of Italianesque and British Georgian architecture.
On our drive across the island we stopped at the peak of Mount Toro to visit the shrine of the island’s patron saint and to enjoy the panoramic views. We could see why the island was given its status as a biosphere reserve – forests of wild olive, oak and pine cover a third of the land, a high proportion for an island of this size.
We visited one of Menorca’s twenty-seven talyots – towers at the entrance of towns. The Talyots were nearly always within sight of one another, and charcoal remains have been found suggesting fires were burnt as signals between them. The island also has a number of ‘taula,’ monolithic structures of a vertical stone supporting another flat stone. The rear side of the taula shows a form of engraved backbone, common on other taula on the island. Alongside is an abstract of the prints of a four-hoofed creature. The inhabitants revered the bull, the animal that signified fertility. A myth of Menorcan farmers is that these taula were ‘tables’ of the Cyclops who once roamed the islands.
Mahon was made the modern capital by the British at the beginning of the 18th Century. Mahon has the world’s second-deepest natural harbor and was fought over by British, French and Spanish. This was a special day for Mahon, which was holding its local festival. Thousands of locals filled the streets around the procession of the horses. Over a hundred black stallions paraded, with people surging forward to touch the revered animals.
After a relaxing day at sea heading north-east through the Mediterranean we arrived at the Balearic island of Menorca just after sunrise. Menorca is the first part of Spain over which the sun rises due to its most easterly location. This led the Americans to build a radar station here during the cold war, decommissioned in the early 1990s. The Balearic Islands derive their name from an ancient hunting slingshot, the ‘Balais’.
Tasty olives, figs, capers and citrus fruits are seen here, however the island is better-suited to raising animals. Official figures suggest 25,000 cattle and sheep although actual figures are probably higher. The landscape is shaped into small fields by over 15,000 kilometers of dry stone walls. Friesian cattle are the predominant breed producing 85 million liters of milk each year and Menorca produces fine cheeses. Other traditional industries are shoe-making and production of a local gin that is made from grapes instead of the normal grain.
We arrived into Ciudadela, the former capital and wandered the narrow maze-like streets. The cathedral is the only main public building that remained after the Turkish invasion of 1558, when thousands of citizens were enslaved in Constantinople. Today the buildings are of beautiful Catalan Gothic style, a mixture of Italianesque and British Georgian architecture.
On our drive across the island we stopped at the peak of Mount Toro to visit the shrine of the island’s patron saint and to enjoy the panoramic views. We could see why the island was given its status as a biosphere reserve – forests of wild olive, oak and pine cover a third of the land, a high proportion for an island of this size.
We visited one of Menorca’s twenty-seven talyots – towers at the entrance of towns. The Talyots were nearly always within sight of one another, and charcoal remains have been found suggesting fires were burnt as signals between them. The island also has a number of ‘taula,’ monolithic structures of a vertical stone supporting another flat stone. The rear side of the taula shows a form of engraved backbone, common on other taula on the island. Alongside is an abstract of the prints of a four-hoofed creature. The inhabitants revered the bull, the animal that signified fertility. A myth of Menorcan farmers is that these taula were ‘tables’ of the Cyclops who once roamed the islands.
Mahon was made the modern capital by the British at the beginning of the 18th Century. Mahon has the world’s second-deepest natural harbor and was fought over by British, French and Spanish. This was a special day for Mahon, which was holding its local festival. Thousands of locals filled the streets around the procession of the horses. Over a hundred black stallions paraded, with people surging forward to touch the revered animals.
