Your perfect family holidays in Minorca
Minorca apartments: Beach, sun, and peace during your family vacations in Minorca
Minorca is the perfect place for you if you have children and want beach, sun and peace. The island is known for its large collection of megalithic stone monuments: navetes, taules, and talaiots, which speak of a very early prehistoric human activity. And regarding the beaches, you can choose among different type of beaches: sand beaches, gravel beaches, rock beaches, pebble beaches, nudist beaches, access for disabled beaches, anchoring zone … Enough options? One more thing: Minorca was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1993.
Here are some of my favourite beaches in Minorca
Cala en Porter (Alaior, Menorca)
Sand beach; Access for disabled people
Length of the beach: 150 meters; Avarage width: 200 meters; Degree of occupancy: high
Son Bou also known as Platges de Son Bou (Alaior, Menorca)
Sand beach; Access for disabled people
Length of the beach: 2400 meters; Avarage width: 120 meters; Degree of occupancy: high
Type of beach: semi-urban; Swimming conditions: moderate swell
Sa Mesquida (Maó, Menorca)
Sand beach
Length of the beach: 300 meters; Avarage width: 50 meters; Degree of occupancy: medium
Type of beach: urban; Swimming conditions: calm water
Binibeca Nou (Sant Lluís, Menorca)
Sand beach
Length of the beach: 400 meters; Avarage width: 40 meters; Degree of occupancy: high
Type of beach: urban; Swimming conditions: calm water
Municipalities in Minorca
The major towns are Maó and Ciutadella. The island is administratively divided into these municipalities:
- Alaior
- Ciutadella previously the capital of Minorca
- Es Castell Founded by the British and originally named as Georgetown
- Es Mercadal
- Fornells, which belongs to the municipality of Es Mercadal. Famous for its lobster soup
- Es Migjorn Gran or Es Mitjorn Gran hometown of Joan Riudavets.
- Ferreries
- Maó, the city from which mayonnaise gets its name (Catalán Maó, Spanish Mahón), became the capital thanks to its strategic natural harbour.
- Sant Climent which belongs to the municipality of Maó.
- Llucmassanes a small hamlet which belongs to the municipality of Maó.
- Sant Lluís Founded by the French
About Ciutadella
At present Ciutadella of Menorca has a population of approximately 26,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom live in the extensions to the old nucleus and the rest in one of the many suburbs that surround our territory ( Calan Blanes, Cales Piques, Cala en Bosc, Santa Galdana….).
Even though the manufacture of shoes and costume jewellery continues being an important source of wealth for our town, today tourism has taken over as being the principal source of income for the majority of the population.
Ciutadella can pride itself on very ancient foundations. The bishop Sever, in his famous encyclical letter (418), tells us, ” There are two small towns founded on the island, to which they give name according to their situation : Jammona looks to the west….”. But it is believed the Semitic establishment superimposed an already existent stone age village. After 123 AD, date of which Quintus Cecilius Metellus conquered the Balearics for Rome, Jammona was a small village, possibly of a military nature, a “parvum oppidum”. The areas of Saint Nicholas street and Camí de Baix, have produced abundant finds - mosaics, tombs, ceramics and small metal pieces.
The old town is surrounded by the “Contramurada”, the street which runs around the town and where originally the walls of the olds city stood.It is a maze of narrow streets of Arabic and medieval origins. Within the old quartes of the town we find the most important monuments. The street which runs between the “Plaza del Borne” and the “Plaza de Alfonso III”, the old Mahón entrance, is the most pedestrian area of the city. Here we find the arcades, popularly called “Ses Voltes” which start at he Plaza de la Catedral and constitutes the comercial center of the old city.
About Maó
Maó, is a municipality and the capital city of the Balearic Island of Minorca, located in the eastern part of the island. Maó boasts one of the deepest natural ports in the world. The name’s origin is attributed to the Carthaginian general Mago Barca, brother to Hannibal, who is thought to have taken refuge there in 205 BC.
A traditional cheese made on the island (Queso de Maó) is named after the city. Mayonnaise is argued to have its origin and name in this Minorcan city.
The city of Maó has a millennial history that saw its origins in a headland on the southern side of the port. The first population centres occupy a small area surrounded by the cliffs of the port and the ravines of Baixamar, del Freginal and La Clota. During the Middle Ages, Maó was a walled city that suffered variations until with time it began to extend beyond its boundaries. A stroll trough the streets of Maó give us an insight into the rich legacy of history accumulated over the centuries. The different architectural features and monuments of the city reveal traces of the various nations that have passed through the island
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Illes Balears
