Naveta des Tudons is of great importance for being one of the oldest funeral buildings in Europe and its type of construction is curiously only found on the island of Menorca. It is shaped like an inverted ship, hence the origin of its name, it measures 13.6 meters long by 6.4 wide and it has a cyclopean shape. It was built with rocks stacked dry without any mortar. It has an entrance with a small corridor leading to the upper floor and a second door leading to the lower floor.
During excavations in the 60s, over 100 skeletons of both sexes and all ages were found, which dated from the 9th century BC, along with personal regalia, countless ancient objects like bracelets, buttons, necklaces, ceramics found dating from 900 BC. It was built with rocks stacked dry without any cement.
There is an old myth about Naveta that says that two giants fell in love with the same woman who did not know which one to decide, so they agreed that each would build a building and the first to finish would marry the woman. One built a shuttle on Llanura Des Tudons and the other excavated a well to find water. The legend says that when the first giant would end the shuttle, passed by the well and shouted “¡Al del Pozo!” (Is someone there?) and the second giant yelled “Agua, he encontrado Agua”! (I found water!) so the first giant, insanely jealous decided to throw a stone on his opponent who was found dead the next day. No one ever again saw the first giant and the shuttle was unfinished, so today there is still a stone lacking to finish the Naveta.
There are several talayónicos and pretalayónicos deposits scattered throughout the island of Menorca but this one, a few kilometers from Ciutadella, is the most spectacular of them all.
For security reasons, you cannot climb nor enter the naveta.
On the highway from Mahón to Ciudadela there is a detour 4 kilometers from Ciutadella.
