The Windy Island
Legend tells that the winds of Menorca modify
the personality of people. Maybe that is
the reason why those who came here once
as tourists mostly return ... Menorca certainly
has a very strong personality, and a very
different one to the rest of the islands.
Menorca, the "minor" island, as
it was called by Romans, has an almost virginal
interior (compared for instance to the "major"
island, Mallorca) and shows interesting
remains of its old history. On the other
hand, there are beaches and lonely bays
around it at a length of 216 kilometers.
An ideal resort for all those who are looking
for true relaxation.
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Menorca History
Menorca is a splendid open-air museum, rich in
diverse prehistoric monuments. Recent discoveries
in sa Cova des Càrritx and sa Cova des
Mussol have allowed the presence of humans to
be dated back to about 2000 B.C., or 4,000 years
ago, with the era of greatest population during
the Bronze and Iron Ages. The monuments scattered
over the island, including a very special type,
confirm this: the taula (table), gigantic T's,
which still arouse impassioned debate over their
meaning. The megalithic tombs, the long caves,
and the naviform dwellings are from the pretalayotic
era, while the taules, settlement walls, and necropolises
with caves dug into the rocks were created in
the talayotic. The final part of this stage shows
significant influence from Punic culture.
In 123 B.C. the Roman consul Quintus Caecilius
Metellus landed on Menorca, taking the precaution
of cladding his ships in leather armour to avoid
damage by stones shot by the island's slingers.
Menorca became known as Balearis Minor or Minorica,
while Maghen (Maó), turned into Mago, or
Municipium Flavianum Magontanum in full. The small
town of Sanisera (Sanitja), mentioned by Pliny,
in the northern part of the island, and Jamma
(Ciutadella) were also Roman settlements. The
mark left by the Romans may be seen in the pavements,
mosaics, inscriptions, figurines, coins, and open-air
burial niches cut out of the rock. The Christianisation
of the island produced an exceptional document:
the letter of Bishop Severian, written in February
417, found by Cardinal Baronius in the Vatican
Library and included in the Annali Ecclesiastici
as an "outstanding monument of Christian
antiquity." The splendour of early Christianity
in Menorca shines in the Palaeochristian basilicas
of Son Bou, Fornàs de Torelló, Port
de Fornells, and Illa del Rei (Maó)
In 902, along with the rest of the archipelago,
Menorca was peacefully incorporated into the Caliphate
of Cordoba, under the name Menurka, and what is
now Ciutadella, where the almojarife or governor
resided, became Medina Menurka. From the 350 years
of Moorish presence, Menorca preserves the remains
of the cliff top castle of Santa Agueda and numerous
place-names (those beginning with Bini - and Al
-), as well as the bell tower of Ciutadella cathedral,
formerly the minaret of the mosque. In 1232 the
almojarife became a tributary of Jaume I the Conqueror,
who had subjugated Mallorca in 1229.
Fifty years later the new almojarife betrayed
Pedro III of Aragon, when he called at the port
of Maó with a fleet of 120 ships headed
for northern Africa. Alfonso III, firstborn son
of Pedro III, vowed to avenge this treachery,
and organized an expedition to conquer Menorca
and annex it to the kingdom of Aragon. In January
1287, the Christian troops entered Medina Menurka,
and so Menorca celebrates the Day of the Menorquin
People every January 17th.
Menorca's strategic location in the western Mediterranean
and excellent shelter afforded by the harbour
of Maó caught the eye of the great European
powers. Starting in 1708 during the War of the
Spanish Succession, the island changed hands several
times with the disembarkation of British and Dutch
troops under the pretext of holding Menorca for
the Pretender to the Spanish throne, archduke
Carlos of Austria. The occupation was ratified
in 1713 by the Treaty of Utrecht and the first
British domination of Menorca began. There were
three stages of British rule: 1708-1756, 1763-1781,
and 1798-1802, interrupted by the French (1756-1763)
and the Spanish (1782-1798).
In 1802 Menorca finally returned to Spain by
the Treaty of Amiens and its history joined that
of the mother country. The policy of the Republican
and Conservatives parties alternately holding
power began in 1874. Unlike Mallorca, Menorca
stayed Republican during the Civil War (1936-1939).
In 1979 the Consell Insular de Menorca was constituted,
bringing about the recovery of the island's former
institutions, integrated in the Comunitat Autònoma
de les Illes Balears. |
