Municipality of Ferreries, Minorca

This town did not achieve official recognition and segregation from Es Mercadal until the mid 19th century, despite its medieval origins. Its name is connected with the blacksmiths that perhaps already existed when Jaume II of Majorca awarded the original centre the category of parish. Other nearby places also take their names from similarly-related activity, such as S’Enclusa (the anvil), a small hill, which with Santa Àgueda, another notable “peak”, gives a “mountainous” aspect to the countryside. The progressive change to new economic activities has turned its appearance upside down in barely the last twenty-five years; undoubtedly started off by the adaptation to tourism of Cala Galdana. Today, the local people work in construction and in the furniture, imitation jewellery and footwear factories, gradually distancing themselves from the traditional agricultural way of life. These transformations have given Ferreries a new lease of life, but the flavour of yesteryear has not been lost. It can still be sensed in the small streets surrounding the parish church of Sant Bartomeu and in the remodelled Plaça Espanya where, on Saturday mornings, the handicraft and agricultural market is held. Another new addition is the Nature Museum, a valuable contribution to the environmental protection policy (which in Ferreries has always had staunch supporters). It fulfils a vital role of promoting natural and cultural values, exhibited with all kinds of interactive resources, and organises conferences and film shows to complement the exhibitions (see the file at the end of this text). Close to the town, by a turning on the road to Es Migjorn Gran, is the prehistoric archaeological dig of Son Mercer de Baix, wih a series of pre-Talayotic dwellings among which feature one that goes by the name of Cova des Moro. It is a very primitive naveta, or chamber, with a roof of stone slabs resting over stone columns, smaller at the base and becoming larger as they rise towards the capital. From this point you can go down to the neighbouring ravine of Sa Cova and take in a marvellous sight of its confluence with the Trebalúger ravine. Marking the boundary between this district and that of Ciutadella, another ravine, the Barranc d’Algendar, is undoubtedly one of the most startling natural spaces on the island. Between the Pla Verd, where it begins, and the Cala Galdana, where it ends, its high walls protect highly fertile orchards and corners where the water and exuberant vegetation create unforgettable landscapes.