Ca n'Oliver

Top choice in Menorca


Built in the early 1800s for the prominent bourgeois Oliver family (who lived here until 1920), this magnificent mansion has been exquisitely restored into an engaging multimedia museum. Its elegant interiors display Maó's Col·lecció Hernández Sanz–Hernández Mora, devoted to Menorcan themes, illustrated by artworks, maps and decorative items dating back to the 18th century. The mansion's distinctive painted-canvas ceilings and grand imperial staircase, with its wrought-iron banisters and mythological-inspired mural, are the work of two 19th-century Sicilian artists.

Videos and displays outline the history of Menorca and the Oliver and Hernández families, while, up the top, you can climb the tower for fantastic views across Maó.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Menorca attractions

1. Plaça d’Espanya

0.08 MILES

Just above the port, the central Plaça d’Espanya is flanked by colourful houses and the neoclassical 18th-century Església del Carme. On the square itself…

2. Església de Santa Maria

0.13 MILES

This imposing church was completed in 1287 but rebuilt during the 18th century. Looming at the east end of its neo-Gothic interior is a massive organ …

3. Arc de Sant Roc

0.19 MILES

This 14th-century archway at the top (west) end of Carrer de Sant Roc is the only remaining relic of the medieval walls that once surrounded Maó's old…

4. Plaça de s’Esplanada

0.27 MILES

Maó’s main plaza is the large Plaça de s’Esplanada, originally a parade ground, laid out by the British. The narrow streets to its east are Maó’s oldest.

5. Xoriguer Gin Distillery

0.29 MILES

At this portside showroom, you can taste and buy Menorca's distinctively aromatic Xoriguer gin, born during the 18th-century British rule. From the range…

6. Església de Sant Francesc

0.34 MILES

Attached to the 17th-century Convent de Sant Francesc, which now houses the Museu de Menorca, this baroque, single-nave church stands on the site of a…

7. Museu de Menorca

0.35 MILES

This 17th-century former Franciscan monastery has been a nautical school, a library, a high school, a children’s home and, now, Menorca's main museum. Its…

8. Granja Dorada

1.17 MILES

At red-washed Golden Farm, they say, Lord Nelson and his lover Lady Hamilton enjoyed a tryst in 1799. Visits are by guided tour and pre-booking is…