Just found a long time looking for orchid. Ophrys Speculum.
A terrestrial orchid up to 25 cm tall and each inflorescence carries between 2 and 8 large flowers. The plants often grow in groups. In bright sunshine the flowers are highly visible as the light reflects off the speculum in the centre of the lip – it is a bright iridescent purple/blue in colour and very glossy.
Since ancient times water has been a problem in Menorca. The Mediterranean climate alternates rainy seasons with persistent droughts and since prehistoric times, man has had to manage to get his supply of water for consumption and irrigation.
The ease of obtaining water in a dry and rocky terrain such as our island, has configured the human settlement in Menorca. The vast majority of settlements are in the southern area where it is easier to get it.
Ruins of the Church of Sant Joan de Carbonell. This town, located close to the road to Fornells, was abandoned during the 19th century due to the lack of water on the ground.
According to the Menorcan Chronicle, King Alfonso III, after a bloody battle against the Muslims, let his army to rest in a place called Pla des Vergers, only a few miles from the Hotel, and ordered two masses to be sung: one in honor of the Virgin Mary as symbol of the new era begins for the island within the Christianity and the other one for the souls of the killed in battle. Over time, a chapel to San Juan Bautista would be built in this place. This was built in the 14th or 15th centuries, since the construction system corresponds to the Levantine Gothic.
In the middle of the 16th century there was a brotherhood of San Juan in Mahón that annually organized a parade to the chapel to celebrate the Baptist festival. This was held until well into the 19th century.
The little church has undergone many reforms throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. According to Archduke Lluís Salvador, the current church is the result of a restoration in 1712. It is a small building, with a single nave covered with a simple ribbed vault and divided into two sections by an ogival arch. It does not have side chapels and the vault discharges on two exterior buttresses. The interior decoration is very sober. The 19th century façade is a body added to the nave with a slightly pointed arch that gives access to a small portico covered with a pointed vault. This is topped with a belfry. On the access portal there is a small window with the openwork Maltese cross.
I hope this could also be the beginning of something new and the end of this pandemic that would be left behind.
