Snapper Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Some time ago I mentioned the fortress of La Mola in Menorca, or Minorca, depending on whether you prefer Catalan or Castillian Spanish. The fortress was built in the 18th/19th Century after the British had finally been kicked off the island. It is a gargantuan place with all the old style Vauban influenced defences mixed in with Victorian era barracks and defences added from the Franco era. The main features of these are two huge 15inch gun turrets. One is open, but the other is on loose ground and is in a dangerous state. Turrets like these were built elsewhere on Menorca and Majorca and mainland Spain. During the 1950s one turret was destroyed when a powder bag ignited in the hoist killing dozens of gunners. The nastiest thing about the gun is a small conscript would be made to crawl the length of it to clean it. Scary. My family last visited the fort in 2002. It is near Mao/Mahon and was only open to the public for guided tours on Sunday morning. We had to be there by 1030 or there was no access. The volunteer guides are great - the admission is cheap and it is not often that you can see something like this. Adjacent to Mahon is Es Castell which used to be the garrison base for the town. The old parade square is all still there and the officer's mess is now an artillery museum. There are some superb guns outside, but little of hardware consequence to see inside. There are NO military vehicles. Es Castell is a great place to watch cruise liners sailing by on a fine evening. If you are going on hols to Menorca - make this a definite visit for your Sunday...... pix here and to follow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share Posted June 1, 2007 continued.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martylee Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Yep, that's a big gun! I'm going to two different fortress' here in norway over the two next weeks, so this was fun to watch while getting ready. I do not believe the norwegian fortress' are of that size. We'll see... Marty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted September 4, 2007 Author Share Posted September 4, 2007 Thanks!! Didn't find anything like it on Majorca, but I did find a curious sign with Nazi emblems on. Will post when I've put on to a disk. Hope you enjoy your fortresses. MB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted September 4, 2007 Author Share Posted September 4, 2007 Forgot to mention the guns are made by Vickers - no less!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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