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Menorca

Sights in Menorca

  1. Molí de Dalt

    The Molí de Dalt is Sant Lluis's last surviving working windmill, constructed during the French era. Within it, there’s a small museum of rural implements and tools.

    reviewed

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    Xoriguer Gin Distillery

    At this showroom, you can taste and buy the distinctively aromatic Menorcan gin. From the range of sample liqueurs, try a shot of camomile-based Hierbas de Menorca, Palo with its bitter gentian flavour or Calent, cinnamon-scented and traditionally served hot.

    reviewed

  5. Platja de Punta Prima

    The closest decent beaches to the capital are Es Grau to the north and Platja de Punta Prima to the south. Both are connected to Maó by local bus. There are around eight buses a day to Punta Prima.

    reviewed

  6. Plaça d’Espanya

    Just above Plaça d’Espanya is the Mercat Claustre del Carme, where former church cloisters have been imaginatively converted into a buzzing market and shopping centre. Upstairs, enjoy temporary art exhibitions and the modest Museu Hernández Sanz Hernández Mora, devoted to Menorcan themes, illustrated by artworks, maps and decorative items dating back to the 18th century. In the square itself, explore the pungent fish market, housed in an attractive olive-green wooden building.

    reviewed

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    Museu Hernández Sanz Hernández Mora

    The modest Museu Hernández Sanz Hernández Mora is devoted to Menorcan themes, illustrated by artworks, maps and decorative items dating back to the 18th century.

    reviewed

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    Museu de Menorca

    This 15th-century former Franciscan monastery has been in its time a nautical school, a public library, a high school and a children’s home. Well documented and presented in Catalan, Spanish and English, its collection covers the earliest history of the island, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic Menorca, and includes paintings, some fascinating early maps and other material from more recent times, too.

    reviewed

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    Mercat Claustre del Carme

    Just off Plaça d'Espanya is the Mercat Claustre del Carme, where former church cloisters have been imaginatively converted into a market and shopping centre.

    reviewed

  10. Golden Farm

    At Golden Farm, they say, Nelson and his lover Lady Hamilton enjoyed a tryst in 1799.

    reviewed

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  12. Fortalesa de la Mola

    In the 19th century Queen Isabel II ordered the construction of a new fortress. The extensive Fortalesa de la Mola, built between 1848 and 1875, sprawls over the promontory of the same name on the northern shore of the bay. It’s about a 12km drive from Maó. You will go rambling through galleries, gun emplacements and barracks. The only way here is by car, unless you want to call a water taxi.

    reviewed

  13. Es Grau

    The closest decent beaches to the capital are Es Grau to the north and Platja de Punta Prima to the south. Both are connected to Maó by local bus. There are around eight buses a day to Punta Prima.

    reviewed

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    Església de Santa Maria la Major

    The Església de Santa Maria la Major was completed in 1287 but rebuilt during the 18th century. It houses a massive organ, built in Barcelona and shipped across in 1810.

    reviewed

  15. Castell San Felipe

    Across the Cala de Sant Esteve, Castell San Felipe, originally constructed in the 16th century, became, under British control, one of the largest fortresses in Europe. When Spain recovered the island, King Carlos III had the fort largely destroyed. However, its labyrinth of underground tunnels has remained more or less intact. Occasional guided visits are possible – call or check the website for latest times (usually once or twice a week). Night-time torchlit tours, complete with actors playing soldiers and the acrid whiff of gunpowder, take you into the bowels of this once-mighty fortress.

    reviewed

  16. Beaches

    The closest decent beaches to the capital are Es Grau, 10km to the north, and Platja de Punta Prima, 8km to the south. Both are connected to Maó by local bus.

    reviewed

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    Arc de Sant Roc

    The narrow streets to the east comprise the oldest part of Maó. The Arc de Sant Roc, a 16th-century archway at the top end of Carrer de Sant Roc, is the only remaining relic of the medieval walls that once surrounded the old city.

    reviewed