So na Caçana

Two horseshoe-shaped sanctuaries stand among the ruins, both facing south, and they are the reason to stop. Most Talayotic sites on Menorca were villages; So na Caçana is read as a religious centre for the settlements around it. The taulas inside the enclosures have lost their top stones. On the façade of the western enclosure, a vertical triangular slab is capped by a horizontal stone and a rounded block, a stacked figure some researchers take for an early image of the Punic goddess Tanit.

The site covers a long stretch of time. A hypogeum beneath one building goes back to around 1500 BC. The sanctuary lost its religious role around 200 BC, and people went on living here until the 4th century; a small building by the talaiot carries burn marks and was probably a workshop in Roman times. Parts of the site are overgrown and unexcavated, and the place is quiet.

• No toilets, drinking water, kiosk or staff on site, and none nearby. Bring water.
• There is very little shade over the ruins; in summer a hat matters.
• Translated information panels explain each zone, from the Middle Bronze Age to Roman and early Islamic reuse.
• Allow 30 to 45 minutes. The paths are relatively flat, but the entrance is not wheelchair accessible.
• Some structures, including underground burial caves, are closed off or overgrown.

So na Caçana sits just off the road from Alaior to Cala en Porter, around the 6 km mark from Alaior and 2 km from Cala en Porter, close to the Talayotic settlement of Torralba d'en Salort. A car is the straightforward way in: the site has its own car park beside the road, and from there relatively flat paths loop through the ruins. The nearest bus stop, Son Vitamina, is about 840 m away in a straight line. Torralba d'en Salort and the beach at Cala en Porter both sit on the same stretch of road, so the three fit into one outing.

Best: soon after opening, or later in the afternoon. Avoid: the middle of a summer day.

There is very little shade anywhere on the site, and at midday the sun stands high over bare stone; in the morning and late afternoon the light comes in low across the south-facing enclosures and picks out the masonry.

So na Caçana is a protected archaeological monument and part of the UNESCO Talayotic Menorca World Heritage Site. Keep to the paths, and do not climb on the walls, the taulas or the talaiot, or move any stone. Structures that are closed off, such as the underground burial caves, stay closed to visitors.