Lazareto in Menorca
The Lazareto is a former quarantine station on an island (the Isla Lazareto) situated within the harbour channel of the port of Mahon, Menorca. First opened in 1817, it remained in use until 1917, across which time half a million people were held there (each for a period ranging from three weeks to five or six months). Several thousand died while in quarantine and are buried in the island's cemetery.
The Lazareto was intended to prevent diseases such as plague, yellow fever and cholera from reaching mainland Spain's Mediterranean seaboard. (A separate Lazareto in Vigo served the Atlantic seaboard.)
This photo shows the main entrance, the west gate, which is in a neoclassical style.
Lazareto in Menorca
The Lazareto is a former quarantine station on an island (the Isla Lazareto) situated within the harbour channel of the port of Mahon, Menorca. First opened in 1817, it remained in use until 1917, across which time half a million people were held there (each for a period ranging from three weeks to five or six months). Several thousand died while in quarantine and are buried in the island's cemetery.
The Lazareto was intended to prevent diseases such as plague, yellow fever and cholera from reaching mainland Spain's Mediterranean seaboard. (A separate Lazareto in Vigo served the Atlantic seaboard.)
This photo shows the main entrance, the west gate, which is in a neoclassical style.