Minorca
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Flag of Minorca |
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Mediterranean Sea |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 39°58′N 4°05′E / 39.967°N 4.083°E |
| Archipelago | Balearic Islands |
| Area | 694.39 km² |
| Highest point | Monte Toro (358 m) |
| Country | |
| Spain | |
| Autonomous Community | Balearic Islands |
| Province | Balearic Islands |
| Largest city | Mahon (27,468) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 88,434 (as of 2006) |
| Density | 127.4 /km² (330 /sq mi) |
Minorca (Catalan and Spanish: Menorca; from Latin: Balearis Minor, later Minorica "minor island") is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than nearby island of Majorca.
Minorca has a population of approximately 88,000. It is located 39°47' to 40°00'N, 3°52' to 4°24'E. Its highest point, called El Toro or Monte Toro, is 358 m/1174 ft above sea level.
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[edit] History
The island is known for its collection of megalithic stone monuments: navetes, taules, and talaiots, which speak of a very early prehistoric human activity. Some of the earliest culture on Minorca was influenced by other Mediterranean cultures, including the Minoans of ancient Crete. For example the use of inverted plastered timber columns at Knossos is thought to have influenced early peoples of Minorca in imitating this practice.[1]
The end of the Punic wars saw an increase in piracy in the western Mediterranean. The Roman occupation of Hispania had meant a growth of maritime trade between the Iberian and Italian peninsulas. Pirates took advantage of the strategic location of the Balearic Islands to raid Roman commerce, using both Minorca and Majorca as bases. In reaction to this, the Romans invaded Minorca. By 121 BC both islands were fully under Roman control, later being incorporated into the province of Hispania Citerior.
In 13 BC Roman emperor Augustus reorganized the provincial system and the Balearic Islands became part of the Tarraconensis imperial province. The ancient town of Mago was transformed from a Carthaginian town to a Roman town.[2]
The Letter on the Conversion of the Jews by a fifth century bishop named Severus tells of the conversion of the island's Jewish community in AD 418. The Vandals conquered it in the 5th century. The Byzantine Empire recovered it in 534. Following the Moorish conquest of peninsular Spain, Minorca was annexed to the Caliphate of Córdoba in 903 and given the Arabicized name of Manûrqa. In 1231, after Christian forces reconquered Majorca, Minorca became an independent Islamic state, albeit one tributary to King James I of Aragon. The island was ruled first by Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd Hakam al Qurashi (1234–1282), and following his death by his son, Abû 'Umar ibn Sa'îd (1282–1287). An Aragonese invasion, led by Alfonso III came on 17 January 1287, now celebrated as Minorca's national day. Most of the Muslim inhabitants of the island were enslaved and sold in the slave markets of Ibiza, Valencia and Barcelona. Until 1344 the island was part of the Kingdom of Majorca, also an Aragonese vassal state, which was itself annexed to Aragon, and subsequently to the unified kingdom of Spain. During the 16th century, Turkish naval attacks destroyed Maó, and the then capital, Ciutadella.
[edit] British century
Captured by the British navy in 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession, Minorca became a British possession. The transfer to Great Britain was confirmed under the terms of the Article XI of the Treaty of Utrecht. Under the governorship of General Richard Kane, this period saw the island's capital moved to Maó, and a naval base established in that town's harbour. During the Seven Years' War, however, the failure of a British naval squadron to lift a French siege of Minorca on 20 May 1756 later led to the court-martial and execution of Admiral John Byng. This naval engagement, the Battle of Minorca, represented the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in the European theatre. Despite this defeat, British resistance persisted at Maó, but the garrison was forced to capitulate under honourable terms, including free passage back to Britain, on 29 June of that same year. The Treaty of Paris (1763), however, saw British rule restored, since Britain and its allies largely prevailed in the war. During the American Revolutionary War, the British were defeated for a second time, in this instance by a combination of French and Spanish forces, which captured the island after a long siege of St. Philip's Castle on 5 February 1782. Minorca was recovered by the British once again in 1798, during the French Revolutionary Wars, but it was finally and permanently ceded to Spain by the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. The British influence can still be seen in local architecture with elements such as sash windows.
[edit] Modern era
During the Spanish Civil War, Minorca stayed loyal to the Republican Spanish government, while the rest of the Balearic Islands supported the Nationalists. It did not see combat, except for aerial bombing by the Italians of Corpo Truppe Volontarie air force. Many Minorcans were also killed when taking part in a failed invasion of Majorca. After the Nationalist victory in 1939, the British navy assisted in a peaceful transfer of power in Minorca and the evacuation of some political refugees.
In October 1993, Minorca was designated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve.
In July 2005, the island's application to become the 25th member of the International Island Games Association was approved.
[edit] Culture
The location of Minorca in the middle of the western Mediterranean was a staging point for the different cultures since prehistoric times. This Balearic Island has a mix of colonial and local architecture.
Minorca is especially well known for its traditional summer fiestas, which intrigue many visitors. The locally bred black horses are the star of the show, dressed up for the occasion with ribbons and rosettes. The riders, or caixers, ride the horses through the streets and encourage them to rear up on their hind legs. The fiestas take place throughout the summer in different towns around the island, and have their origins in the early 14th century.[3] The international opera week and international organ festival in Mahon and, the summer music festival and Capella Davidica concerts in Ciutadella are the main events of the island.
Minorca’s cuisine is dominated by the Mediterranean diet which is known to be very healthy. Whilst many of the locals have adopted modern attitudes they still uphold certain old traditions like chivalry, courtesy and of course hospitality.[4]
[edit] Language
Most locals are bilingual in Spanish and the variety of Catalan called Menorquí. Between Menorquí and Catalan proper, as with most Balearic dialects, the most distinctive difference is the different word used for the article "the", where Menorquí uses "es" for masculine and "sa" for feminine. Menorquí thus shares the source of its article with many Sardinian varieties (masc. sing. su, fem sing. sa), rather than the Catalan "el" and "la", common to other Romance languages (e.g. Spanish el, la, Italian il, la), corresponding to a form which was historically used along the Costa Brava of Catalonia, from where the islands were repopulated after being conquered from the Moors. Menorquí also has a few English loan words dating back to the British occupation such as "grevi", "xumaquer", "boinder" and "xoc" taken from "gravy", "shoemaker", "bow window" and "chalk", respectively.
[edit] Food and drink
Lingering British influence is seen in the Minorcans' taste for gin, which during local festes honoring towns' patron saints is mixed with bitter lemon to make a Pomada. Also famous is Formatge de Maó, a cheese typical of the island.
It is thought that mayonnaise was brought back to France from Mahon, Minorca, after Louis-François-Armand du Plessis de Richelieu's victory over the British at the city's port in 1756.[citation needed]
[edit] Municipalities
The major towns are Maó and Ciutadella. The island is administratively divided into these municipalities:
- Ciutadella previously the capital of Minorca
- Ferreries
- Es Mercadal - Virtual tour through Es Mercadal
- Es Migjorn Gran or Es Mitjorn Gran hometown of Joan Riudavets.
- Alaior
- Cala En Porter - a tourist and residential area
- Maó (Catalán Maó, Spanish Mahón), became the capital thanks to its strategic natural harbour.
- Es Castell Founded by the British and originally named as Georgetown.
- Sant Lluís Founded by the French.
- Fornells, which belongs to the municipality of Es Mercadal. Famous for its lobster soup. - Virtual tour through Fornells
- Llucmassanes a small hamlet which belongs to the municipality of Maó.
- Sant Climent which belongs to the municipality of Maó.
[edit] Gallery
 This is a taula from the site of Talatì de Dalt about 4km west of Maó. |
 Cales Coves of Minorca. Note the hand-hewn entrances to the caves. |
 Minorcan countryside |
 Lighthouse ruins, Alcaufar, Minorca |
 Cala Galdana |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ C. Michael Hogan (2007) Knossos fieldnotes, The Modern Antiquarian
- ^ Henry Christmas, The Shores and Islands of the Mediterranean, Published 1851, R. Bentley
- ^ Website Oficial Menorca
- ^ Minorca Culture Information
[edit] References
- Burns, Robert I. (1990) "Muslims in the Thirteenth Century Realms of Aragon: Interaction and Reaction", p.67, In: Powell, J.M. (ed.) Muslims under Latin Rule, 1100–1300, p. 57–102, Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-6910-5586-6.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Menorca |
Definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity- Minorca travel guide from Wikitravel
- Pictures Photographs of Menorca
- Island government of Minorca
- UNESCO's Minorca Biosphere Reserve
- (Catalan) Social and environmental observatory of Minorca
- Minorca by David Wilson Taylor
- Digital Library of Archaeology and History of Minorca: (It is necessary to register, gratuitously, in Terrae Antiqvae to accede to it, inside the group "Archaeology of Minorca")
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