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SPAIN | Menorca, Spain Travel Guide
Thursday, November 28, 2024
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Mahón (Maó)
Mahón (Maó)
As far as Mediterranean seafarers have been concerned down through the ages, Mahón is one of those idyllic places. It is situated at the inland head of a narrow, deep harbor that burrows far into the island. In shape it is similar to the fjord-like rías of Galicia, though without all the green. The largest natural harbor of the Mediterranean, it is both easily defensible and navigable, features that attracted Phoenician seafarers to found a settlement here in the ninth century BC. And still the natural protection could not thwart a Turkish invasion in the 15th century led by the infamous Redbeard that led to the death of half the town’s population. Colonized by the British in the 18th century, Mahón began to bounce back after years of neglect.
Through its British influence, Mahón has developed into a quite distinct Spanish city. Its harbor is terraced with attractive, 18th-century colonial-style homes. It is known throughout the country for its queso Mahon, a cheese of milk from a breed of cattle introduced by the British. And one of its locals’ favorite cocktails is the pomade, a gin and lemon Fanta concoction, the gin having been first distilled in Mahón by the British for British soldiers. Some even say that mayonnaise was invented in Mahón, though no one knows for sure.
Mahón has a bustling entertainment scene, day and night, around the storefronts, bars and restaurants of its harbor. From the harbor, the main Carrer ses Moreres cuts through town, past the historical district. One of the finest places in town, the Placa Conquesta is the site of the 13th-century Iglesia de Santa María, a Gothic-Neoclassical edifice and, across from it, the immaculate 17th-century Casa Consistorial (Town Hall). The island’s Museu de Menorca occupies the cloister of a former Franciscan monastery next to the city’s other popular site, the Iglesia de San Francisco. The museum houses archeological relics that trace the island’s past cultures, from the Christians down to the Moors, the Romans, Phoenicians and the prehistoric Talayotic culture whose ceremonial stone structures are common features of the Menorcan landscape.
On a lighter note, the Destileria Xoriguer, one of Mahón’s oldest and most respected gin distilleries dating to the 18th century, allows tours, samples and, of course, purchases of its intoxicating product. The distillery is near the end of the harbor-side developments.
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