Culture

Son Bou Early Christian Church

At the eastern end of Son Bou beach lie the remains of an early Christian church built during the 5th century.

It faces south-east and consists of a rectangular floor plan with three naves separated by pillars, a tripartite chancel and a small vestibule (the so-called narthex, a place from which the unbaptised could participate in the liturgies). The baptismal font, formed by a cylindrical monolith on the outside and in the shape of a cross on the inside (unusual in Menorcan churches), originally must have been at the foot, but it is currently preserved in the left compartment of the chancel, on the north side. The floor of the basilica is made of mortar. The complex, delimited by a trapezoidal wall, is completed with some very simple burials and other constructions related to religious use.

There is evidence of the degree of organisation and development of the Christian communities on the island from the 5th century, thanks to a letter from Bishop Severo and the correspondence of Conscenci. The intense cult activity in Menorca, at least since the 6th century, is attested by the discovery of a total of six early Christian churches: Son Bou; Fornás de Torelló and those of Illa del Rei and Illa d'en Colom in Maó; Sanitja, in Es Mercadal; and Cap des Port in Fornells.

In the 18th century, a fire destroyed the complex, but the site can still be visited to this day.