Menorca’s Mysterious Talayotic Culture
A Six Day Mediterranean Island, Ancient Sites Tour
Holiday makers on this beautiful sunny, Spanish Balearic island are used to the amazing coves and Mediterranean Sea views, but this amazingly picturesque landscape holds the memories of a secret and distant civilization. Luckily, though, we are able to visit ancient sites across the island that provide fascinating evidence of this long, otherwise lost, ‘ Tatayotic culture’.
We will be exploring all these stone monuments, categorized as the Navetas, the Talayots, the Taulas and the Cercles Houses, together with fascinating ancient cave structures and other places of interest. Our friendly, family run hotel will be in the centre of Mahon. This is where the tour will begin and end and pick ups from Mahon Airport can be arranged during the day.
The weather in October averages above 20c, so pretty much like a nice warm British summer.
The Navetas
From around 1600 BC people began to settle in early naviform dwellings. These monumental structures, built from huge blocks, were the fore-runners to the navetas, magnificent burial chambers named after the upturned-boats they resemble.
The Talayots
Then around 3,000 years ago the first talayots were being built. These huge towers were constructed from large blocks of stone with truncated cores. They differ greatly in design, some having internal spaces, passageways and steps to rooms at the top. This has led to propositions that the talayots were watch towers or points of communications between adjoining settlements.
The Taulas
The ‘Taula Precincts’, that appeared in the 6th century BC, are unique to Menorca and they were obviously an important part of the life of the Talayotic people. They consisted of the taula, meaning table in Catalan, built from two huge stone slabs placed one on top of the other to form a ‘T’ shape. This was usually located within a precinct, a cyclopean wall that surrounded the taula and was accessed through a portal doorway. It is probable that these were important places of meeting for ceremonial and other community purposes.
Cercles Houses
The settlements mainly consist of ‘cercles houses’, the homes of the Talayotic people. They are usually round or square shaped with rounded corners and contain all the usual sign of domestic usage including cooking, sleeping and fabric working.
Tour Costing
Price for the full 6 day tour – £1400
single supplement £100
Deposit – £300
Cost Includes: B&B in the hotel, Site visits and Entrance Fees
Not included: Travel insurance, please ensure you have all the relevant travel and health insurance.
Please note, all deposit and balance payments are non-refundable unless the tour is cancelled by Neil.
