Maó: Six Kilometres of Natural Harbour

The natural harbour at Maó runs six kilometres inland, and its position in the western Mediterranean is why Phoenicians, Greeks, Turks and eventually the British all came for it. Britain captured Menorca in 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession, was formally given it at Utrecht, and held it for seventy years, using Maó as a naval base and turning the town — by then the island capital — into a major trading and smuggling centre. The British influence is still visible in the local architecture — sash windows above all — and Menorcan gin, distilled from wine spirit rather than grain, is still made in the port.