Mahon
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The Irish surname MacMahon is not related.
Mahon (alternately, Maó; Catalan/Balearic Maó, Spanish Mahón), is a city in the eastern part of the island of Minorca, in the Balearic Islands.
The name is attributed to the eponymous Carthaginese general Mago Barca, brother to Hannibal, who is thought to have taken refuge there in 205 BC.
Mahon was captured in 1287 from the Moors by Alfonso III of Aragon and incorporated into the Kingdom of Majorca, a vassal kingdom of the Kingdom of Aragon. Its harbour, one of the most strategically important in the western Mediterranean, was re-fortified.
Minorca was captured by the Kingdom of Great Britain during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1707, and its British status was confirmed by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. During the island's years as a British dependency in the 18th century, Mahon served as its capital and residence for the governor, the most famous being Pierre, marquis de Fremeur.
Today it serves as the seat of the Island Council of Minorca (Consell Insular de Menorca).
Towards the end of the 20th century, a refurbishment of its historic centre was made possible by income from tourism.
A traditional cheese made on the island (formatge de Maó) is named after the city. So, traditionally, is mayonnaise. In Spanish mahón is also the name of nankeen, especially the blue cloth.
There is some debate over what the correct spelling of the city's name in English should be; due to the general tendency in English to ignore accents in foreign words, many dictionaries refer to the city by an adaptation (Mahon) of its Castilian Spanish name (Mahón), while many other sources vouch for using the Catalan spelling (Maó) in English-language publications.
External links
- Municipality of Mahon, WebMenorca site (http://www.webmenorca.com/v2/Area.aspx?AreaID=7&LanguageCode=en): walking tour of Mahon/Maó