Tuesday 16^th September – Mahón, Menorca (La Mola, Fortalesa Isabel II)

39:53.543N 4:16.329E

Today, after completing our chores on board, we set out by dinghy to visit La Mola on the peninsula at the entrance to Mahón.

When you arrive at Mahón by sea, you can’t miss it – it’s huge.  The whole area is a massive fortress, called Fortalesa de Isabel II, and it was built between 1850 and 1875, and named after the Spanish Queen of the time, who is said to have visited it.

It was well worth the visit and we can thoroughly recommend it for a daytrip; the views from the top are great.  If we went again, we would probably take a picnic to have half way round now that we know that they have put tables and chairs and installed facilities at a couple of places around this otherwise pretty desolate area.

The place is very open and visitor friendly although being out of season now we were pretty much on our own most of the time.  The battlements are very impressive and there are a large number of fantastic tunnels, with side rooms where all the munitions and provisions were stored, that you are able to wander around – you would be able to have a very professional game of hide and seek there!  Goodness knows how people used to find their way around.

Not being very military, I found the terms used on the audio hand set describing the various architectural features quite difficult to understand but nevertheless, it was all great fun, and I learned a lot. 

At the far side of the fort there are a couple of massive 15” Vickers guns capable of firing shells 36km; installation was completed in 1936 and they were last fired in 1991.  As we rested at the nearby café, a guide arrived to give a tour of the inside of one the guns.  I was tuckered out by then – the lady at the entrance had said we should be able to do the whole circuit in a couple of hours but, you know us, by the time we had seen absolutely everything between the entrance and the gun, three hours had already passed – so Richard went to look at the gun leaving me to rest.  There was just him and one other chap.

When they had finished, the guide kindly offered us a lift back to the entrance in her mini-bus which we gratefully accepted, saving us a long hike back.

La Mola, Fortalesa Isabel II

© Pyxis 2008