Menorca’s Christian Conqueror: Alfonso the 3rd

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Alfonso III, more accurately known as Alfonso III of Aragon, was a medieval monarch who served as the King of Aragon, Valencia, and Count of Barcelona from 1285 until his death in 1291. Nicknamed “The Liberal,” he is most famous in the Mediterranean for conquering the island of Menorca from the Moors in 1287.

His legacy in the city of Maó (capital of Menorca) centers around this victory

On January 17, 1287, his troops successfully captured the island, a date celebrated today as Menorca’s national holiday (Diada de Menorca)

The legend of his arrival at the port directly corresponds with the origins of Menorca’s capital city. .According to local lore, his forces entered the deep, narrow natural harbor on the feast day of the Virgin Mary, leading them to name the port Portus Magonis (Port of Mago), which evolved into the modern name Maó (or Mahón).

Alfonso had first landed on an island in the middle of the harbour now known as Ills de Rei , or Isle of Kings

Moving forward into the centre of the island he soon overpowered the Moorish forces, which had occupied the island for almost 400 years . An eyewitness of the time recalled:

SO THE PEOPLE OF MINÜRQA SURRENDERED, AND WERE TAKEN CAPTIVE, AND ABU UMAR IBN SAID LEFT THE ISLAND, WITH HIS FAMILY, AND FIFTY SWORDS, AND HIS LIBRARY, AND HIS FATHER’S ASHES AND WAS SWALLOWED BY THE SEA.

In the city you can still find a well-known monument dedicated to him in the heart of the city’s old town at the Plaza de la Conquesta. The statue commemorates his role in bringing the island under Christian rule.

Alfonso built the city walls here to prevent Mahón from another invasion. Only one small gated stone archway portion , the impressive Pont de Sant Roq remains to this day.