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Mahón (), officially Maó (), and also written as Mahon or Port Mahon in English, is the capital and second largest city of
Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...
. The city is located on the eastern coast of the island, which is part of the archipelago and
autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...
of the
Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
. Mahón has one of the longest natural harbours in the world: long and up to wide. The water is deep but remains mostly clear due to the port's enclosed nature.
Mayonnaise Mayonnaise (; ), colloquially referred to as "mayo" , is a thick, cold, and creamy sauce or dressing commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various other sauces, such as tartar ...
is considered to have originated in Mahón. Its population in 2021 was estimated to be 29,125.


History

The name's origin is attributed to the Carthaginian general
Mago Barca Mago Barca ( xpu, 𐤌𐤂‬𐤍 𐤁𐤓𐤒‬, ; 243–203BC) was a Barcid Carthaginian who played an important role in the Second Punic War, leading forces of Carthage against the Roman Republic in Iberia and northern and central Italy. Mag ...
, brother to
Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
, who is thought to have taken refuge there in 205 BC. After the fall of the
Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
, it became part of the
Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
; it suffered raids from
Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
and
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
until the Islamic
Caliphate of Córdoba The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خلافة قرطبة; transliterated ''Khilāfat Qurṭuba''), also known as the Cordoban Caliphate was an Islamic state ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 929 to 1031. Its territory comprised Iberia and parts o ...
conquered it in 903. Mahón was captured in 1287 from the
Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...
by
Alfonso III of Aragon Alfonso III (4 November 1265, in Valencia – 18 June 1291), called the Liberal (''el Liberal'') or the Free (also "the Frank," from ''el Franc''), was the king of Aragon and Valencia, count of Roussillon, Cerdanya and Barcelona (as ) from ...
and incorporated into the
Kingdom of Majorca The Kingdom of Majorca ( ca, Regne de Mallorca, ; es, Reino de Mallorca; la, Regnum Maioricae; french: Royaume de Majorque) was a realm on the east coast of Spain, which included certain Mediterranean islands, and which was founded by James I o ...
, a vassal kingdom of the
Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...
. Its harbour, one of the most strategically important in the western Mediterranean, was refortified. In 1535, the Ottomans, under
Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an Ot ...
, attacked Mahón and took 6,000 captives as slaves back to
Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
, in the
Sack of Mahon A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), an Ir ...
.


British rule

Menorca was captured in 1708 by a joint British–Dutch force on behalf of
Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI Charles VI (german: Karl; la, Carolus; 1 October 1685 – 20 October 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully claimed the thron ...
, during the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
. The British saw the island's potential as a naval base and sought to take full control. Its status as a British possession was confirmed by the
Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
in 1713. During the island's years as a British dependency, the capital was moved from
Ciutadella de Menorca Ciutadella de Menorca () or simply Ciutadella is a town and a municipalities of Spain, municipality in the western end of Menorca, one of the Balearic Islands (Spain). It is one of the two primary cities in the island, along with Maó. History ...
to Mahon, which then served as residence for the
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, the most famous being General Richard Kane. During this period the natural harbour leading to the town and surrounding settlements were sometimes collectively known as ''"Port Mahon"'' ''(see map left)''. The island was lost to the French in 1756 following the naval Battle of Menorca and the final Siege of Fort St Philip, which took place several miles from the town. After their defeat in the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
, France returned the island to the British in 1763. In a joint Franco-Spanish effort and following a long five month invasion, the British surrendered the island again in 1782; It was transferred to Spain in 1783 as part of the Peace of Paris. The British recaptured the island in 1798, during the
French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
. The British and the French tried (and failed) to end hostilities between themselves with the
Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...
in 1802. Both nations agreed to cede or withdraw from certain territories, with the island of Menorca passing to the Spanish, with whom it has remained since.


The Royal Navy

A small but important
Royal Navy Dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial ...
was established by the British on the north side of the harbour, opposite the town, in 1715. It served as the Royal Navy's principal Mediterranean base for much of the 18th century, and remains in use today as a Spanish Naval station. Several Dockyard buildings, dating from the 1760s, can still be seen on Illa Pinto (formerly known as Saffron Island) including a Naval Storehouse with clock tower. There recently have been moves to establish a maritime museum here. The island has a distinctive octagonal shape, formed when wharves were constructed around it in the 1760s to enable several warships to be careened there all at once. The ruins of a former
Royal Naval Hospital A Royal Naval Hospital (RNH) was a hospital operated by the British Royal Navy for the care and treatment of sick and injured naval personnel. A network of these establishments were situated across the globe to suit British interests. They were ...
, founded in 1711, stand on another nearby island (
Illa del Rei L'Illa del Rei (English ''King's Island''; Spanish ''Isla del Rey''), also called Hospital Island in English, is a small island in the middle of the main navigable entry channel to Mahon on the northeastern side of Menorca in the Mediterranean Sea ...
). They recently have been restored. File:S'Arsenal, illa des Gegants o d'en Pintot (Maó).JPG, Naval storehouse and
careening Careening (also known as "heaving down") is a method of gaining access to the hull of a sailing vessel without the use of a dry dock. It is used for cleaning or repairing the hull. Before ship's hulls were protected from marine growth by fasteni ...
wharf on Illa Pinto File:IllaDelRei.jpg, The ruined Naval Hospital in 2008; File:Illa del Rei, Mao 2011.jpg, and in 2011, following restoration


20th century

During the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, the island remained loyal to the Republic, but was captured by the Nationalists in 1939. During the battle to capture the islands from the republicans, Mahón was bombed by
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
's Nationalist bomber planes, with support from
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
's Italian Fascist government. General Franco visited the city on 11 May 1960 to open a new
thermal power station A thermal power station is a type of power station in which heat energy is converted to electrical energy. In a steam-generating cycle heat is used to boil water in a large pressure vessel to produce high-pressure steam, which drives a stea ...
. The event was used by the authorities to further promote
Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
.


Modern era

Today it serves as the seat of the Island Council of Menorca (''Consell Insular de Menorca''). Towards the end of the 20th century, the renovation of its historic centre was made possible by income from tourism. A traditional cheese made on the island (''
Mahón cheese Maó cheese (''formatge de Maó'' in the original Catalan, ''queso de Mahón'' in Spanish) is a soft to hard white cheese made from cattle, cows' milk, named after the town and natural port of Maó (known as Mahón in Spanish), on the island of Men ...
'') is named after the city. Some believe that the origin and name of
mayonnaise Mayonnaise (; ), colloquially referred to as "mayo" , is a thick, cold, and creamy sauce or dressing commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various other sauces, such as tartar ...
are found in this Menorcan city. In Spanish ''mahón'' is also the name of
nankeen Nankeen (also called Nankeen cloth) is a kind of pale yellowish cloth originally made in Nanking (modern Nanjing), China from a yellow variety of cotton, but subsequently manufactured from ordinary cotton that is then dyed.''Oxford English Dic ...
, especially the blue cloth.


Notable residents

*
Juan Ramis Juan Ramis y Ramis (27 April 1746 – 12 February 1819) was a lawyer, writer and historian from Menorca, Balearic Islands. Biography Ramis y Ramis was born and died in Mahón. He was the son of Bartolomé Ramis y Serra and Caternia Ramis y ...
, lawyer and historian (1746–1819) * Pasqual Calbó i Caldés, painter (1752–1816) *
Mathieu Orfila Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila (Catalan: ''Mateu Josep Bonaventura Orfila i Rotger'') (24 April 1787 – 12 March 1853) was a Spanish toxicologist and chemist, the founder of the science of toxicology. Role in forensic toxicology If th ...
, toxicologist (1787–1853) *
Orestes Araújo Orestes Araújo ( Mahón, 1853 - Montevideo, 1915) was a Uruguayan lecturer, schoolteacher and historian. Born in Menorca, he settled in Montevideo in 1870 and worked in the newspaper ''La Paz'', established by José Pedro Varela. Araújo helped ...
, Uruguayan historian and educator (1853–1915) * José María Martín Domingo, composer and musician (1889–1961) *
Francesc de Borja Moll i Casasnovas Francesc de Borja Moll Casanovas (10 October 1903 – 18 February 1991) was a catalan linguist, philologist and editor from Menorca. He wrote many books on the Catalan language and its varieties spoken on the Balearic Islands. He was also the ma ...
, linguist and philologist (1903–1991) *
Sergio Llull Sergio Llull Melià (; born 15 November 1987) is a Spanish professional basketball player and the team captain for Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He is a tall point guard and shooting guard. Llull is a two−time A ...
, basketball player at Real Madrid (born 1987)


Climate

Mahón/Menorca has a
Hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: Csa) with mild, somewhat humid winters and dry, hot summers. Autumn is the wettest season and heavy rain is not rare during October and November.


Other

At , there is a large military Wullenweber antenna for radio direction finding.


Twin towns

*
Cervia Cervia ( rgn, Zirvia) is a seaside resort town in the province of Ravenna, located in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. Cervia is a major seaside resort in Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Its population was 28,700 at the 2018 census. ...
, Italy


References


External links

* *
Municipality of Maó-Mahón, WebMenorca site
walking tour Maó {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahon Mediterranean port cities and towns in Spain Municipalities in Menorca Populated places in Menorca Phoenician colonies in Spain