The Cap de Cavalleria

Ecomuseum An ecomuseum is a museum focused on the identity of a place, largely based on local participation and aiming to enhance the welfare and development of local community, local communities. Ecomuseums originated in France, the concept being develop ...

is an institution which is located on the northernmost coast of

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

(

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

), in the proximity of Cavalleria Cape and the port of Sanitja (Santa Teresa,

Es Mercadal Es Mercadal () is a town and municipality in northern Menorca in the Spanish Balearic Islands. Etymology The name "Mercadal" derives from the Latin language Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Ita ...

History

The Ecomuseum was created in 1997 by the non-profit association “San Nitja. Gestión del Patrimonio Mediterráneo”, with the main objective of protecting, investigating and spreading the cultural and natural resources of Cavalleria and the port of Sanitja. This task is carried out by the interdisciplinary study of the following elements: geological (sedimentation and stratigraphy), biological (native fauna and flora), environmental (preservation of the environment to face up to the pressure of different factors such as tourism), ethnologic (lime kiln, dry walls, lighthouse, etc.), as well as historic and archaeological (Roman military fort, city and medieval mosque), all of them located in the area. Among them, it is worth highlighting the last element mentioned, due to the archaeological interventions in the port of Sanitja, which are carried out in the Roman military fort, dating from the 1st century B. C., and the Roman city of

Sanisera Sanisera was one of the Roman cities located in the island of Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), which was mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his book ''Naturalis Historia'', III, 77–78 in the 1st century BC: The Baleares, so formidable in war with ...

(1st century B. C. to 6th century A. D.)

Visitors

The Ecomuseum’s visitors receive all the information related to this territory inside the Santa Teresa building, by means of audiovisual material, scale models and the exhibition of the archaeological findings revealed in the excavations that are carried out in the port of Sanitja. The exhibition “Discover the North!”, inaugurated in 2005, offers a general view of all the elements mentioned above, and it is translated into six languages: Catalan, Spanish, English, German, Italian and French. Moreover, once visitors has seen the exhibition in the Santa Teresa building, they can continue with the free visit of the surrounding area by following the “7 routes” guide, which starts at the way out of the museum and which complements what is exhibited in the showroom, in order to know the most important cultural and natural elements of the landscape.

References

External links

Ecomuseo de Cap de Cavalleria
Official website of the Cap de Cavalleria Ecomuseum and the archaeological fieldschool at the Roman city of Sanisera. {{coord, 40, 03, 55, N, 4, 5, 20, E, region:ES_type:landmark, display=t Buildings and structures in Menorca Museums in Spain 1997 establishments in Spain