The story of a renaissance
While the south of Menorca is full of marlstone quarries, the only ones open to visitors are those of s'Hostal, located at km1 of the Camí Vell, near Ciutadella, which have been transformed into an open-air garden/museum. This spectacular seven-hectare site has been used by man for several centuries and ceased to be exploited altogether in 1994. In addition to a manual quarrying area - these activities date back to the 19th and 20th centuries - there was also a more modern area at S'Hostal, where stone was extracted using mechanical assistance (1960-1994). However, as the quarries had already been closed for some time prior to 1994, a 1983 law obliged operators to partially fill the excavated spaces. As a result, these monumental landscapes found themselves condemned to burial under tons of waste of all kinds (often contaminating the subsoil), and thus to oblivion! It was at this critical moment in S'Hostal's history that Lithica stepped in to organize the rebirth of the site.
The members of the Lithica project, created in 1994, were determined, after an initial phase of raising awareness of the value of tidal quarries in general and of the profession of stonemason(trencador), to recover the S'Hostal quarries, which were doomed to destruction. Lithica's mission is to protect, rehabilitate and regenerate an area. It soon becomes clear that the quarries are to be presented as a "sculpted space in the heart of Menorca", an inverted architectural legacy - the forms imprinted in the stone are in fact due to deconstruction, to the subtraction of material rather than construction per se, thus making the notion of negative architecture relevant - and a particularly aesthetic testimony to man's action on the landscape.
The rehabilitation process is incredible, bringing to light a sensational variety of spaces: quarries, gardens, labyrinthine spaces, spaces for art and culture, learning spaces, memory spaces dedicated to the work of stonemasonry... And this holistic vocation of the S'Hostal quarry has not wavered for 30 years! So much so that in 2017, the S'Hostal quarries were declared a Property of Ethnological Interest (PIE) by the Menorca Island Council and included in the Menorca Historical Heritage catalog. The same year, Lithica's project won an award from Hispania Nostra (an association for the protection and preservation of Spanish heritage) as an example of heritage rehabilitation and landscape intervention, a distinction confirmed in 2019 by the European branch of the same structure (Europa Nostra)!
Inverted, impoverished architecture
A visit to the S'Hostal quarries is a thrilling experience that's hard to sum up in words. The sensation of space is something that has to be experienced by the body! Visitors are invited to wander through the various areas of the quarries - divided into two main zones: one for manual cutting, the other for mechanical cutting, opened in the 1960s - following a fairly free itinerary. Each visitor's instincts and affinities serve as a compass. The whole site, in the open air, is a collection of spaces dug, excavated, sculpted in the rock, all provoking a different impression depending on the time of day, the season, the weather... There's something very meditative about moving through these settings, which may have been carved by the hand of man, but have been largely reinvested by nature! It's also a primal experience, awakening the caveman in us all! A walk through the S'Hostal quarries raises intimate questions about the relationship between man, space and nature.
Let's take a closer look at the main spaces we're dealing with here.
Part of the S'Hostal quarries can be likened to a large garden, a landscaped ensemble born of the interaction between man and nature. A large part of these quarries has in fact been transformed into agricultural sites: orchards and vegetable gardens were set up here before being abandoned for a long period, during which nature reclaimed its rights. Today, the vegetation of the former quarries is not uniform, but rather a play of contrasts and opposites. The vegetation in the upper, highest zone, exposed to the harsh climate and winds, was particularly poor. The reforestation program carried out by Lithica has enabled this area to be reforested. Conversely, the inner part of the quarries is made up of small canyons perfectly suited to cultivation. The quarries' abundant vegetation and intricate network of paths and gutters led Lithica to invent a garden landscape project that can be presented in several areas: the Orchard Labyrinth, the Medieval Garden, the Plant Labyrinth and the Botanical Circuit.
Dreamlike spaces
Le Labyrinthe des Vergers. This is the name given to the quarry-garden complex. This maze of natural spaces, made of rock, is overgrown with vegetation: the essence of the labyrinthine framework of this project is the meeting of mineral and plant, stone and moving nature. When quarrying came to an end, the bottom of the quarries were filled with topsoil and turned into small fertile valleys. The long period of abandonment that followed encouraged the emergence of wild flora.
The Jardin Médiéval is a secret, flower-filled garden, whose atmosphere is reminiscent of a medieval cloister, and evokes a nostalgic sense of paradise lost: built to the scale of man, it is the meeting point between him and a higher order, represented by the geometric layout of the garden. Around the fountain framed by roses, symbolizing life and soul, stretches a garden of medicinal herbs, symbolizing the spirit and its understanding of nature. The presence of a vegetable garden, a source of food, speaks of the body and its senses: you can touch the earth and leaves, listen to the sound of water, smell the herbs and flowers... In short, it's a place to rest, to withdraw from the world and connect with yourself, with nature and with transcendence.
The Botanical and Biodiversity Circuit was launched in 2000 with the aim of contributing to the conservation of Menorca's indigenous flora. In particular, it aims to educate and inform the public. The native plants are arranged according to a plan adapted to the particularity of each area. In 2006, another itinerary was added to this first circuit: the Biodiversity Circuit, signposted by information panels with botanical, zoological, geological and ethnological content.
The Plant Labyrinth, inspired by the Cretan labyrinth tradition, offers a unique circular path. It communicates visually with the medieval garden, and features some twenty native aromatic plants whose species vary with the seasons. An invitation to a conscious, olfactory stroll.
A visit to the S'Hostal quarries may seem like a bucolic stroll through semi-wild gardens, but it's also an enigmatic and playful experience, even a voyage of initiation. Indeed, it's the very nature of S'Hostal's labyrinths to question the visitor's sense of self and relationship to space and the world. And the Mineral Labyrinth is certainly the most challenging of all! This labyrinth is inspired by the Minotaur's Labyrinth: square in plan, it is composed of multiple paths and a geometric center. Wandering through this maze is a fun experience, with everyone getting lost, looking for themselves and each other, as a metaphor for the path of life! In the same space, you'll find the "Totem", an immense stone obelisk born of the extraction itself. This stone giant overlooks the labyrinth.
Next door is the Carrière de l'Amphithéâtre, S'Hostal's most monumental space. It's this cubic space, no less than 30 metres deep, carved out by the machines, that hosts the biggest shows of the many cultural events organized in the quarries: theater, dance, circus, symphony orchestras or solo musicians, the performances are always dazzling!
Fosquets and other activities
As well as being a place to showcase the art of working stone, the quarries are also intended to be a living space in their own right, a social space designed to bring people together. So, in addition to guided tours and various workshops - including a presentation of stone-cutting skills and an introduction to marble sculpture - S'Hostal hosts numerous events and live performances. Music recitals are often organized, mainly in the summer months, in various areas of the quarries, such as the grandiose Amphitheatre, but also in the more intimate Carrière des Orangers, whose vegetation is reminiscent of an orchard. In addition, a number of events - staged in collaboration with local and international structures - are partially and/or occasionally set in the Lithica quarries. But it's above all the summer program of the Fosquets de Lithica festival that makes the most of the beauty and acoustics of these spaces!
Fosquets de Lithica is the name of the musical evenings organized at S'Hostal. Concerts of world music, as well as classical and ancient music, take place throughout the summer. But where does this enigmatic name come from? Fosquet is a diminutive of the Minorcan word fosc, meaning "dark, obscure". In fact, the word fosquet refers to that very special, even magical, moment of the day, the time between dog and wolf, when the sun has gone and the moon is slow to emerge... This is exactly when the festival's shows and concerts take place. As the time of sunset varies from week to week, so do the times of the concerts: 9pm in July, 8.30pm in August and 8pm in September. In short, unique moments during which the musical vibration harmonizes with the stone material of the quarries, allowing magic and poetry to blossom towards the sky!
