Cala Sant Esteve and Fort Marlborough
Follow the road to Es Castell and pass the roundabout
as if you were to the chuch, but keep on walking on the same road. Ignore the
modern villas and apartments developments you will find on the left. In a few
minutes you might be by the cemetery with its yellow walls.
In this place is where the first town of Es Castell
was built. But it was destroyed during one of the assaults to St. Phillipe
Castle. At that time it was known as "Arraval d'es Castell", that is
the reason of the name of the town today..
There is a road here that goes to Sant Lluis, but you
have to ignore it and keep on walking in the same direction Before you arrive
to the prohibited military area, on the right side there is a road that will
bring you to Cala Sant Esteve (St. Stephen's Creek), a lovely little narrow
harbour. Although there are some houses from menorcans here, note that there is
not a restaurant or even a bar where you can have a drink, so if you think in
stay there for a while as the area is really nice, you should take some drinks
with you.
You can see, on the clifftop, at the far side of the
"cala", the remains of a fortress built to provide crossfire with
Fort St. Phillip. Built by the English, between 1710 and 1726, -The Marlborough
Redoubt- In the final assalt in 1781, a captain and 50 men whitstood a French
force of 700 men.
It is possible to visit the Fort Marlborough and the
visit takes place in underground galleries, tunnels leading to mines and rooms
excavated on the rock. In the past, one of this subterranean galleries was
leading to the castle under the watersea.
There is a foothpath here that goes to one of the
defence tower, called Stuart Tower or Torre den Penjat, but it takes another
hour walking and it is closed and can not be visited. There is anyway an spectacular view of the harbour mouth.
