Municipal Museum of Ciutadella, Ciutadella de Menorca, Spain

The Municipal Museum of Ciutadella is a general history and archaeological museum with a permanent exhibition on the history of Ciutadella and of the island itself from prehistoric times through to the Muslim era and the arrival of king Alfonso III in 1287. Visitors can take a tour through the island's various historical periods, represented by the archaeological remains and artefacts on display. The Historic and Artistic Museum of Ciutadella was officially opened in 1935 on the ground floor of the Town Hall.

The museum regularly holds temporary exhibitions to show particular historic periods not covered by the permanent exhibition, aspects of anthropology or recent acquisitions and new collections. The museum provides guided tours for groups, which should be booked in advance.

In 1995, it was moved to the Bastió de sa Font building which was one of five bastions built to protect the five entrances set into the walls around the town. The bastion originally served as a water tank and was filled by collecting rainwater. The permanent exhibition starts with the early settlers on the island and with a display cabinet on the pre-Talayotic period showing the way of life and customs of that era. After this, the Talayotic period is the subject of a large display dealing with the way of life, customs and relationships of this native culture of Menorca and Mallorca. The next section shows the Roman era. To end the exhibition on this period, there is a display cabinet on the origins of Christianity in Menorca and paleo-Christian basilicas. Lastly, there is an area on Vandal attacks, on the Byzantine Empire, the late Roman Empire and the beginning of the Muslim era in Menorca.

References:

menorca.es

User Reviews

Yojhan Carrero (3 years ago)
As the price of the tickets are in several languages, they should condition the contents of the museum to those languages. Remember that you live for tourism and putting everything in the local language is not a good idea

Carl James (3 years ago)
Small but also quite cheap. Free guide pamphlets in a variety of languages are available. Well worth a visit.

Ian Gordon (3 years ago)
Gives a nice overview of the islands history from pre Roman and through the Tayliotic period.

Phalonia : (3 years ago)
Small museum with €2.50 entry fee. A small but decent collection of artefacts that have been found in the area which date back thousands of years. Extremely limited information in English, one section had no translation available at all. Good way to spend an hour on a rainy day, though this would be impossibly boring for children.

The Moosehead Nebula (4 years ago)
We went on Saturday afternoon. It closed at 2pm, not to open again until the following Tuesday.

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Heraclea Lyncestis

Heraclea Lyncestis was an ancient Greek city in Macedon, ruled later by the Romans. It was founded by Philip II of Macedon in the middle of the 4th century BC. The city was named in honor of the mythological hero Heracles. The name Lynkestis originates from the name of the ancient kingdom, conquered by Philip, where the city was built.

Heraclea was a strategically important town during the Hellenistic period, as it was at the edge of Macedon"s border with Epirus to the west and Paeonia to the north, until the middle of the 2nd century BC, when the Romans conquered Macedon and destroyed its political power. The main Roman road in the area, Via Egnatia went through Heraclea, and Heraclea was an important stop. The prosperity of the city was maintained mainly due to this road.

The Roman emperor Hadrian built a theatre in the center of the town, on a hill, when many buildings in the Roman province of Macedonia were being restored. It began being used during the reign of Antoninus Pius. Inside the theatre there were three animal cages and in the western part a tunnel. The theatre went out of use during the late 4th century AD, when gladiator fights in the Roman Empire were banned, due to the spread of Christianity, the formulation of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the abandonment of, what was then perceived as, pagan rituals and entertainment.

Late Antiquity and Byzantine periods

In the early Byzantine period (4th to 6th centuries AD) Heraclea was an important episcopal centre. A small and a great basilica, the bishop"s residence, and a funerary basilica and the necropolis are some of the remains of this period. Three naves in the Great Basilica are covered with mosaics of very rich floral and figurative iconography; these well preserved mosaics are often regarded as fine examples of the early Christian art period.

The city was sacked by Ostrogoth/Visigoth forces, commanded by Theodoric the Great in 472 AD and again in 479 AD. It was restored in the late 5th and early 6th century. When an earthquake struck in 518 AD, the inhabitants of Heraclea gradually abandoned the city. Subsequently, at the eve of the 7th century, the Dragovites, a Slavic tribe pushed down from the north by the Avars, settled in the area. The last coin issue dates from ca. 585, which suggests that the city was finally captured by the Slavs. As result, in place of the deserted city theatre several huts were built.

The Episcopacy Residence was excavated between 1970 and 1975. The western part was discovered first and the southern side is near the town wall. The luxury rooms are located in the eastern part. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th rooms all have mosaic floors. Between the 3rd and 4th rooms there is a hole that led to the eastern entrance of the residence. The hole was purposefully created between the 4th and 6th century.

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