San Clemente

San Clemente, or Sant Climent as we call it in menorquin is a traditional village Close to Mahón.

A group of farms and country houses have been located here since the very old times. In fact most of the farms in the area have names of Arab origin so probably they were already here 800 years ago.

The current church, built in 1889, replaced an earlier one, from the 17th century, and occupies a centralizing place in the village center.

End of Season 2019.

It's been a long 184 days season. May 1st. when we opened seems ages ago.

Now it's time for a deserved rest for all the staff. We've been to TAPS CAN AVELINO for a meal and get together, and this is how the harbour was after that. So Quiet.

Sa Torre Vella - The Old Tower.

I have always liked the old country houses of Menorca.
 
Built hundreds of years ago using the poor resources offered by the agricultural environment on the island. Many times the main element of its architecture is limestone rudimentary extracted from the rock of the soil. They saw times of good harvest and many others of misery and suffering, as can be deduced from the defensive elements that can be seen in some of them.

Photographed "Sa Torre Vella" in Alayor in 1987. It was still active but a holding that housed the old tower had deteriorated so much over the years that could barely be intuited and during the years that followed fell, like so many other farms of Menorca in the abandonment
 
Today, the Fontanille Group has restored the old houses and turned them into a select hotel away from the mundane noise where the charm of the old rural architecture can still be appreciated. Hundreds of years later.

Creu d'es Tres Termes.

In Menorca there are still some crosses that mark some fact or location and that are erected in old country roads. The oldest are from the middle ages and some of them are exhibited in local museums as they have been removed from the roads to prevent deterioration.

The cross in the photograph is not one of the oldest, but it is certainly more than a hundred years old. It is at the exact point that marks the divisions of the lands of the term of Mahon, Es Castell and Sant Lluis.

Wayside crosses are especially common in Roman Catholic regions. Most of them were erected in previous centuries by the local population as a sign of their faith. Several of them were put up at places where an accident or a crime took places. The custom of placing an "accident cross" at spots on the roadside where people have been killed has, meanwhile, spread worldwide. Many wayside crosses, however, simply act as waymarks to indicate difficult or dangerous spots or to mark intersections. On walking maps, wayside crosses and shrine are displayed in order to aid orientation. On many crosses there is an inscription which may indicate why the cross was erected and by whom.