Son Catlar

Monuments | Ciutadella

Talayotic settlement (late 2nd millennium – 1st millennium BC) The Son Catlar settlement was the most extensive one on the western part of the island, and along with the settlements at Torre d'en Galmés and Trepucó, it can be described as pre-urban. It covers an area of around 3.5 hectares. Son Catlar primarily stands out because of its large stone wall made of large slabs, some of which are indeed gigantic. More than 800 metres in perimeter, it is the largest Talayotic wall on the Balearic Islands. The wall had several gateways, of which one remains that leads to the eastern part of the grounds, which was partly excavated until the original level was reached. In the eastern sector of the wall you can see several attached bastions built using a different technique, with much smaller, regularly-shaped blocks of stone. They were most likely added at a later date, perhaps from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC. The northern part of the wall has yet another unique feature, with a variety of casemates inside. The settlement has not yet been excavated, but inside it you can see remains of three talayots, a hypostyle hall, remains of numerous Talayotic houses concealed by the vegetation and especially a large taula area. This area was partially excavated after the Spanish Civil War using quite imprecise means and methods. The stone support of the taula is broken, but it was quite large. The area and the freestanding pilaster on the side are conserved fairly intact. Outside the wall, to the west of the settlement, there is a small hypogeum dating from the pre-Talayotic period. These hypogea were underground burial caves and are primarily found on the western side of the island. The Son Catlar settlement kept being used for housing during the period of Roman rule, as proven by the discoveries of ceramic shards on the surface. It was even used as late as the Islamic times. However, apparently only a small portion of the entire site was used during these latter periods. How to get there: Son Catlar is located 8 km from Ciutadella on the Son Saura motorway.