Menorca's prehistory is stranger and more abundant than its tourist image suggests. From around 1000 BC, the island's people built huge monuments of unmortared stone, and the big circular towers called talaiots, which probably served as lookout posts, houses or meeting places, dot the island by the hundred. The culture that built them is called Talayotic, and the sites were listed by UNESCO in 2023 as a group of outstanding prehistoric settlements and sanctuaries. This stretch of land, west of Ciutadella, is not far from some of the best examples, among them the Naveta d'es Tudons, one of the oldest roofed buildings in Europe.
The naveta is a burial chamber shaped like an upturned boat, built of massive limestone blocks without any binding material, and the remains of more than a hundred people were found inside. It stands in a field of low walls and olive trees, and from a distance it looks like an overturned ship dragged from the sea. The name naveta simply means little ship. A short drive away other sites show the T-shaped monoliths, called taulas, that stood at the centre of Talayotic sanctuaries and whose purpose is still debated. They may have been altars, or supports for a roof.
Riding here is peaceful and flat. The roads across western Menorca are narrow, bordered by stone walls and fields, with gentle curves and few vehicles outside the summer months. The island is small, so every road seems to end at the sea, and the light on the stone is warm and bright. The wind can blow hard from the north, called the Tramuntana, and bring salt and a chill even in spring. Avoid riding on gravel tracks without enough grip, since many access roads to the sites are unpaved.
Ciutadella, with nearly thirty thousand people, has fuel, supermarkets and a handsome harbour of white houses and fish restaurants. Ferreries and Mercadal are smaller, but have stations too. Ciutadella was the capital of the island until 1722, and every June it holds a festival of horses, the Sant Joan, in which riders in black and white costumes rear their mounts in the narrow streets as crowds press in. The smell of the area is of thyme, dry stone and sea air, and the cicadas sing all afternoon.