Menorca, an island of legends
Everyone knows about the crystal-clear waters and beautiful beaches that Menorca is plagued with, but our island is not only what everyone sees at first sight. Menorca is also magic and full of stories and legends. Come with us to discover some of the stories that have been passed down from generation to generation. They will definitely surprise you!
How many times have we walked through the streets of Ciutadella while we felt a magical breeze? how many times have we discovered a cove that was so perfect it had to be enchanted? and thus thousands of other moments in which Menorca has made us fall in love with its subtle spells. Our island is magical as all the folklore that has been passed down from generation to generation demonstrates.
Let us today be the ones who briefly delve into some of the best-known legends of the island. it is always a good time to soak up the magic of Menorca.
Sa Cova den Xoroi
The legend tells that one day a shipwrecked pirate arrived on the island, but it is not very clear how, and he managed to take refuge in a cave on the coast of Alaior. From that day on, food, small furniture, and animals began to disappear that becoming the booty of this pirate, in Xoroi.
Those were difficult times and the locals weren't too surprised by these robberies, until one day our pirate, who felt lonely and had fallen in love at first sight with a local girl, decided to kidnap her and take her to live in his cave. shocked the people who spent nights and days looking for her, although she was never found.
The years passed and the robberies became more and more frequent, the townspeople could not forget the young woman, and the locals were worried about the force with which she had attacked winter. Little did they imagine that it would be winter itself that would solve everything.
And it is that one day Menorca woke up heavily snowed, and the weather did not improve in the following days so Xoroi had to leave the cave in search of food, leaving a trail of footprints perfectly visible to the locals, who followed him. up a big cliff. Only the bravest dared to continue, finding the entrance to a cave that Xoroi was fighting to protect. Finally, the men were able to break in, finding the girl who had disappeared years before and the three children she had had as a result of her love affair with the pirate. Xoroi, who did not want to be caught, threw himself into the sea together with his eldest son, and they were never seen again, the woman and the other two children were taken to Alaior where it is said that their descendants still live today.
It is also said that if one night you visit the cave you will be able to hear the girl's cries of love looking for her lost love.
Sa Ciutat de Parella
It is said that if on Sant Joan's day, in Ciutadella, you look to the west at the right moment you will be able to see the most beautiful city your eyes will ever see: "Sa ciutat de Parella". The city will slowly emerge from the blue sea of Menorca wrapped in a fine mist; you will even be able to hear their bells ring. But it won't last.
Parella was enchanted by a city that envied her beauty, and although that city has now disappeared and her name forgotten, the enchantment persists as Parella emerges from time to time hoping to be disenchanted.
And it is that no matter how powerful the enchantment is if seven Joans and seven unknown Joanes meet on Sant Joan's day in front of the sea, the city will re-emerge in all its fullness.
Sa Naveta des Tudons
Many, many years ago near Ciutadella there lived two brothers, giants, who competed for the love of the most beautiful woman in the city. The brothers wanted to resolve the dispute peacefully and since the girl could not decide, they challenged each other to a duel of strength and skill to see who was capable of creating the most impressive work.
The first of them had to build a “Naveta” with large carved stone blocks and the second had to dig a well with his arms until the water would flow from it. The brothers conscientiously immersed themselves in the arduous tasks, they spent days and days in their respective feats, not without stopping to keep an eye on the evolution of their opponent.
Finally, one day, while the older brother was carrying the last stone on his shoulder, he passed by the well to communicate the victory to the younger brother who, without giving him time to react, told him that it was no longer worth it, he had just found water. The competition was over. The elder brother was blinded by hatred and lifted the huge rock that he was carrying on his back and threw it with all his strength into the deepest part of the well, from which came a piercing scream.
Some say that at that very moment the older brother repented of his actions and fled so that no one would ever find him, others think that he threw himself into the sea overwhelmed by guilt, but even today everyone agrees that that is why the rock missing from the Naveta des Tudons is found at the bottom of the well built by the younger brother and has never been recovered.”
Sa nuvia d’Algendar
“It was a beautiful night in the ravine d'Algendar (near Ferreries) and a young couple was celebrating their union between food, drink, dances and happiness; at least until an old woman who had a reputation as a witch arrived at the celebration: she arrived disheveled and with a dirty face, singing to everyone "Eat capons and chickens, in the future, you will only eat sardines" everyone ignored her and took her crazy until finally, the woman left.
But the woman was not so far off the mark since with her powers of clairvoyance she had predicted the kidnapping of her young girlfriend, that the next morning she was kidnapped by some pirates without any chance of resisting.
A few days later the pirate ship was shipwrecked due to a great storm. A fisherman picked up the girl and took her to a foreign civilization. They were very hard years for the woman, who, fed up with everything, managed to design a strategy and finally escape from it.
She managed to get to Cala Galdana by boat, although when she disembarked, disoriented, she walked and walked until she found some houses where she asked where she was. "Algendar" told her, to which she went crazy, that she had returned to the place from which she had fled years ago because she had not been kidnapped, but simply did not want to marry her fiancé but one of the pirates who was her. to search. The woman wandered mad as she began to sing the song that the witch had sung many years ago.
As you have been able to appreciate, with this small selection of Menorcan legends, the island is full of secrets, full of magic if you look at it with the right eyes. Discovering a bit of the island's folklore will only make you fall in love with it a little more through its past. Now it's your turn, as a good Menorcan or a lover of the island, to tell these beautiful stories so that the love for the stories of the island is transmitted throughout the world.
