In a tourist town the main thing is that visitors have to walk and spend money! That's why almost the entire city center of Ciutadella (Menorca) is pedestrian. Of course, this is a joke, but there's something in it, because it's really dark in summer. If you look into history, it becomes clear that long ago almost every city was born as a fortress and to this day keeps some of its borders, proving it.
The history of Ciutadella began in the 1st century, when the Romans built a fortress and tried to protect it from all sides. The high walls defended the city until the 19th century and survived many attacks and attacks by the enemy.
Thus, in 1558 Turkish troops came here, which besieged the city for several days, and then seized it. The locals defend themselves as best they can, but there are too few of them to defeat the enemy forces. Imagine 3 099 Menorca against 15,000 Turks.The results are clear even before the start of the fight. The survivors were taken to Turkey and sold into slavery. A few centuries later, in the central square of the city, an obelisk was set up for the victims of those events.
The text on the obelisk: "Here we are fighting furiously for the sake of our religion and our country in 1558".
Ciutadella's central square is called the Plaza d'Bourne. Here too, is City Hall, where you can go and see the mock-ups of the 18th century city. It is clear that the settlement is surrounded by a large wall, where there are several gates.
On my short tour journey, I decided to take a peek at all possible angles from the mayor's office and see, for example, a mannequin like that depicting the fashion of the 18th century. This is what the Menorquinians looked like at the time.
