The Port

MAÓ / MAHÓN The Port of Mahón:

The Port of Mahón has always been the element that has defined Mahón throughout history, which is why going down to the Port and strolling through it could be said to be almost a mandatory visit for any visitor to the island, at any time of the year. Although the Port has various accesses, one of the best for descending is the slope located next to the fish market, where we can enjoy the gardens of the Rochina Park, in the old barranco integrated into the city between two cliffs, of which on the left is the oldest nucleus, with the City Hall and the church of Santa María and, on the right, the church of El Carmen and the old convent. This empty, landscaped space was, until the last Civil War, the fishermen's quarter of Mahón. You can still see on the walls of the cliffs the remains of caves used from the talayotic necropolis, and almost at the bottom, there is a cross that marks the place where the church of San Pedro, patron saint of fishermen, used to stand.

Once down, turning to the left, towards the Colársega, we will find different establishments; many of these buildings still retain a good part of the old facades. From the Maritime Station to the end of the Port, we will find the building of the Eléctrica Mahonesa, built in 1892, which was the first electricity factory in the Balearic Islands; the Gin Xoriguer factory, where this typical drink of Menorca is still made. Almost at the bottom of the Port, we will find s'Hort Nou, which is a small park arranged at the end of the 18th century by the governor Count of Cifuentes, with a small central building and a double staircase that goes up to the Cuesta de ses Piques, one of the ascents from the Port to the city.

If instead of heading to the left when we reach the port we go to the right, we will find old warehouses, some of them with widened doorways so that a boat could enter. We will pass in front of an old building, La Minerva, which around the last third of the 19th century was first a steam sawmill and then a flour mill. Following the walk through the Port, we will see in front of the well-known Cuesta d'En Reynes a modern sculpture known as the Mermaid of Mô, which has become quite popular in the city.

On the other side of the bank of the Port, we can see a large red house, of Italian influence and English colonial air; we are talking about Sant Antoni or Golden Farm. In this manor house, popular fantasy has situated the love affair between Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton.

The islets of the Port of Mahón

In the first place, we can see on the other side of the port, just when we reach the bottom of the Rochina park, Pinto Island, which was for centuries a shipyard area, an old arsenal, and is still today a Naval Base.

Further to the center of the Port, we will see an islet known as King's Island, because it was the first place where King Alfonso III of Aragon set foot when in the year 1287 he took the Island of Menorca from the Muslims. Further towards the mouth of the Port, we will see a smaller island, known as Illa Plana or Quarantine Island, since in the English era it served as a lazaretto; it is currently a dependency of the Naval Base.

Almost at the mouth of the Port, right in front of Villacarlos, we will be able to see the old peninsula, called Lazareto, converted into an island through an artificial canal between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. It houses one of the most important lazarettos in the Western Mediterranean. The complex of buildings on this island is today owned by the Ministry of Health and is used as a place of rest for its civil servants and also as a headquarters for congresses and scientific meetings, such as the Summer University.