Ciutadella de Menorca
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Ciutadella de Menorca (official) or just Ciutadella (common) (Spanish: Ciudadela) is a town and a municipality on the western side of Minorca, one of the Balearic Islands (Spain)
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[edit] History
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Originally founded by the Carthaginians, it was already the seat of a bishop in the 4th century. After being governed by the Moors under the names of Madina al Jazira and Madina al Manurqa for several centuries, Ciutadella was recaptured during the reconquista by men serving Alfonso II and became part of the Crown of Aragon. During the Middle Ages, it became an important trading center.
On the 9th of July 1558,the Turks under Barbarossa with a powerful Turkish Armada of 140 ships and 15,000 soldiers, put the town under siege for eight days entered and decimated the town.The town was defended by only a few hundred men. All of Ciutadella's 3,099 inhabitants who survived the siege were taken as slaves to Turkey together with other inhabitants of surrounding villages. In total, 3,452 residents were sold into slavery in the slave markets of Istanbul(Constantinople),Turkey.
[edit] Religion
Despite no longer being Minorca's capital, Ciutadella has remained the island's religious center. The festival of Saint John, its patron saint, takes place each year on the 23 & 24 of June. The Cathedral of Menorca, located in the old quarter of Cuitadella, was built in 1287 on the foundation of an older mosque.
[edit] Culture and Landmarks
In the 17th century, many beautiful civil and religious buildings were built in the Italian style there and give Ciutadella a historical and artistic unity.
Worth seeing is the old town. Ciutadella's town hall is the former palace of the Arab governor and later served as a royal palace under the Aragonese and again as a governor's palace until the British moved the capital to the eastern town of Mahon in 1722.
The former capital of the island is now known for its medieval charm. Ciutadella is considered a "Guardian of Traditions", while at the same time remaining one of the two bustling metropolises of Minorca. Its harbor is a very picturesque and lies on deep bay.
[edit] Demographics
Ciutadella de Menorca municipality has a population of 28,017 inhabitants and an area of 186 km² (population density: 150 people per square kilometer).
[edit] References
- The information in this article is based on a translation of its German equivalent.
[edit] External links
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