Travels

Menorca, the island of 7 lighthouses

<p>Menorca is known as the island of 7 lighthouses&period; The lighthouses are one of the most representative symbols of the island&period; There were built in order to provide safe sailing because over the centuries&comma; violent storms off the shores have caused numerous shipwrecks&period; The lighthouses were strategically positioned and were providing safety for many years&period; The oldest lighthouse was built in 1857&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At the end of the season I managed to see the ones I hadn&&num;8217&semi;t seen before&period; Today I want to present you all seven lighthouses&excl;<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;jmvalderrama&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;11&sol;Blog&lowbar;432&lowbar;menorcatee&lowbar;MLH&lowbar;todos-los-faros&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;jmvalderrama&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;11&sol;Blog&lowbar;432&lowbar;menorcatee&lowbar;MLH&lowbar;todos-los-faros&period;jpg" width&equals;"1160" height&equals;"1242" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1>1 &&num;8211&semi; Lighthouse of Artrutx<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>This is the lighthouse that I could actually see every day from the hotel&period; It was the closest lighthouse to the area where I was working&period; I went there by bike or on foot several times&comma; I also saw it from the sea during the <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;2018&sol;08&sol;amazing-excursion-with-catamaran-ocean-cat-menorca&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">catamaran excursion<&sol;a> and I watched its lightning at night&period; It just formed a part of my life in Cala&&num;8217&semi;n Bosch&comma; especially with the setting sun over Mallorca as well as the lighthouse&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Artrutx lighthouse stands 45 metres above sea level and is 34 metres high&period; Its lamp can be seen in 19 nautical miles away&period; Today&comma; the old lighthouse buildings have been converted into a restaurant&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>History<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>It was built in 1859&period; It was at run on olive oil and then on petrol&period; The original tower was much shorter than it can be seen today&period; The height was increased in 1969&period; With the automation of the lighthouse in 1980&comma; the unused keeper&&num;8217&semi;s accommodation was later converted in a café and restaurant&comma; providing food and drink to the patrons  who visit to watch the sunset from the terrace&period; The lighthouse can be visited when the restaurant is open but the tower is closed&period; In 2005&comma; the lighthouse was included on Menorca&&num;8217&semi;s list of historical buildings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2350" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;DSC09409-e1542322350467&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"450" height&equals;"338" &sol;><&sol;h1>&NewLine;<h1>2 &&num;8211&semi; Cavalleria<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>I visited the lighthouse with my Slovak friend that came for visit&period; It was a half day trip and we really enjoyed it&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s a beautiful place with stunning views&period; Not far from the lighthouse&comma; there is a beach of Cavalleria which is also recommended to see&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The lighthouse is situated at the top of the headland of <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;2018&sol;08&sol;half-day-trips-cavalleria-and-cala-morell&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Cavalleria<&sol;a> and it&&num;8217&semi;s the most northernly point of Menorca&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s a good place to watch the summer sunsets&period; The white tower of the lighthouse is 15 meters high and it was built on the island&&num;8217&semi;s tallest and most impressive cliffs&period; It stands 94 meters above sea level&period; Just few meters from the lighthouse there is a free parking where you can leave your car&period; Then you can just walk around and enjoy the spectacular views&period; Near the lighthouse there is a small cave where you can enter&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>History<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Before the Cavalleria lighthouse began to operate in 1857&comma; over 700 shipwrecks had occurred on this part of the north coast of Menorca since the 14th century&period; Even after the opening of this lighthouse&comma; this coast was still dangerous and that&&num;8217&semi;s why two more lighthouses were built at the beginning of the 20th century &&num;8211&semi; Favaritx and Punta Nati&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2352" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;DSC09216-e1542322374334&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"450" height&equals;"338" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1>3 &&num;8211&semi; Punta Nati<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>I visited Punta Nati twice&period; First time was <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;2017&sol;10&sol;bye-september-hello-october&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">last year<&sol;a> with my Cuban friend&period; This year I also had an opportunity to go there so I was glad I got to see it again&period; For me&comma; this it the best lighthouse on the island&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s different than the others&comma; in my opinion&comma; it has its own magic&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s just hard to describe&period; It feels like you&&num;8217&semi;re in the middle of nowhere&comma; you&&num;8217&semi;re surrounded by rocks&comma; stones and the sea&period; Even though you can&&num;8217&semi;t actually enter the lighthouse area&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s definitely worth coming there and walking around&period; There is a parking place nearby&period; When you drive&comma; go slowly because the road is very narrow&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The lighthouse is situated 6 km north of Ciutadella&period; The tower is 19-metre high&period;&period; It stands 42 metres above sea level&comma; in a landscape known as dry Menorca&period; The lack of build up areas has permitted the survival of endless dry-stone walls that are interrupted only by shelters built from dry stone where cattle can hide&period; The headland is an excellent place for wonderful sunsets&comma; with Mallorca in the background on the horizon&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>History<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Punta Nati was built in just over a year due tu the pressure from the French government after the wreck of the steamship in 1910&period; The lighthouse was opened in 1913&period; It started using lamps powered by petrol gas&comma; but in 1921 they installed a non-automatic lamp powered by acetylene gas&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2351" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;1539856419669-e1542322396907&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"450" height&equals;"450" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1>4 &&num;8211&semi; Favaritx<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>This lighthouse was the one that I didn&&num;8217&semi;t want to miss&period; Last year I didn&&num;8217&semi;t get there so this year it was my plan to visit it&period; During the high season it was quite complicated to reach it since it was forbidden going there by car&period; To see it meant to take three buses there and three buses back &lpar;from Cala&&num;8217&semi;n Bosch to Ciutadella&comma; then another one to Mahón and the last one to Favaritx&rpar;&period; Because of that I decided to visit it at the end of the season when it will be accessable by car&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When I finished the season&comma; everything got complicated &&num;8211&semi; it was raining all day long and we didn&&num;8217&semi;t have electricity for three days&period; I was honestly afraid that I won&&num;8217&semi;t be able to go there&period; I was lucky though&comma; two days before my departure it stopped raining so I went there&period; Favaritx is also kind of different than the other lighthouses&period; In Menorca they always say that it looks like on other planet&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Favaritx lighthouse is located over 17 km from Mahón&period; Its tower is 28 metres high and it stands 47 metres above sea level&period; The lighthouse is the first such construction made from concrete erected in Balearic islands&period; Because of the harsh lunar-like nature of its surroundings it makes it one of the most visited lighthouses on the island&period; The headland is remarkable for its strangely shaped black-coloured rocks and its scant plant cover&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>History<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>The shipwrecks that took place in the 20th century motivated the construction of the lighthouses on Punta Nati and Cap de Favaritx&period; Like that it completed the illumination of Menorca&&num;8217&semi;s north coast&period; The works on the lighthouse began in 1917 but because of a lack of funding and problems with the land ownership&comma; it wasn&&num;8217&semi;t finished until 1922&period; The lighthouse wasn&&num;8217&semi;t electrified until 1971&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2353" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;DSC00006-e1542322416798&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"450" height&equals;"338" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1>5 &&num;8211&semi; Sa Farola<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>I saw the lighthouse many times because it&&num;8217&semi;s close to Ciutadella&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s situated near the entrance to the old port&period; I actually got closer to it last year when I went to <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;2017&sol;11&sol;menorca-i-will-miss-you-lot&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Cala en Blanes<&sol;a> with my Cuban friend and we were driving along the coast just near the lighthouse&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The lighthouse lies close to the seaward entrance of the port of Ciutadella on the Sa Farola point&period; On the opposite site is the Castel de Sant Nicolau&comma; a 17th century defence tower&period; The lighthouse&&num;8217&semi;s tower is 13 metres high and stands 21 metres above sea level&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>History<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>The work on the lighthouse began in 1861 and it started to operate in 1863&period; It has been remodelled on a number of ocassions and&comma; for example&comma; over the years its tower has been extended and a protective wall has been built&period; The wall was made as a defence against the sea&comma; which would flood the lighthouse and its buildings during the storms&period; It became the first lighthouse in Menorca and the forth in Balearic islands that was electrified in 1918&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2349" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;DSC07208-e1542322436977&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"450" height&equals;"338" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1>6 &&num;8211&semi; Sant Carles<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>This lighthouse and the Illa de l&&num;8217&semi;Aire I got to see when I was leaving Menorca&period; Since I took a ferry from the Mahón island&comma; I could get stunning views of the Menorca&&num;8217&semi;s coast and I could see the last two lighthouses of Menorca that I was missing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Sant Carles lighthouse is located at the entrance to the Mahón port&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s 10 metres high and it stand 22 metres above sea level&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>History<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Sant Carles opened in 1852 and it was built inside military installations&comma; where the remains of the castle of Sant Felipe are situated&period; The original lighthouse was demolished because its obstruction of firing practice of the nearby military gun emplacement&period; In 1912 its old lamp was turned off and replaced by a mobile lantern attached to a folding davit&period; Despite the multiple changes that this lighthouse has suffered&comma; it can be considered the oldest one in Menorca&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2356" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;IMG&lowbar;20181104&lowbar;173018-e1542323609385&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"450" height&equals;"338" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1>7 &&num;8211&semi; Illa de l&&num;8217&semi;Aire<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>This was the lighthouse that I was saying my &&num;8220&semi;goodbye to the island&&num;8221&semi; to&period; It was the last part of Menorca I could see and it felt quite strange&period; Leaving the island after my second season there wasn&&num;8217&semi;t easy&period; Fortunately&comma; the sun setting over the lighthouse together with the wonderful views of menorquin coast&comma; including <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;2017&sol;08&sol;trip-around-island&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">the fortress La Mola<&sol;a>&comma; made it special&period; It was like a cherry on top of the beauty of this amazing island&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The lighthouse is situated on the highest point of Illa de l&&num;8217&semi;Aire&comma; a small uninhabited island&period; This is the tallest lighthouse of Menorca with its 38-metre high tower&period; Inside there is a spiral staircase with 165 steps&period; The lighthouse stands 53 metres above sea level&period; It can be seen from the nearby beach Punta Prima and if you wish to access it&comma; you should take a boat taxi&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>History<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>It was built between 1857 and 1860&period; In 1911 its original oil-fired lamp was replaced by a kerosene lamp&comma; which was in turn replaced in 1974 by an automatic gas lamp&period; This meant that from 1976 the lighthouse-keeper didn&&num;8217&semi;t have to live in anymore&period; In 1995 the light was changed again for the system using photovoltaic energy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2355" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;luciesworld&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;IMG&lowbar;20181104&lowbar;174204-e1542323598143&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"450" height&equals;"338" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Today you got to know every lighthouse of Menorca island&period; Are you ready to take a journey through the island and to see each of them&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Lucie

My name is Lucie. I come from Czech republic. I was studying Mediterranean studies and Comparative literature. Since 2013 I have been working as a hotel entertainer during the summer seasons. I have worked in Greece and Spain. I love that job and I want to share with you my excitement for it, my personal experience and also my travels.

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