A short walk from the house is the Santa Monica talayot, attesting to the antiquity of settlement in this area. Talayotic culture only remained for half a century, ending in 350BC with the Roman invasion.
At least a day could be spent on foot around Santa Monica, with a walk to nearest beach and across to Son Bou, three talayots, a walkway to the village and two sets of caves.
Firstly there is the Talayot close to Santa Monica, which is currently rather overgrown and was probably a watchtower for a series of beacons connecting inland to the sea. There is a small secret tunnel from outside to take you out on top.
Other Excavated Talayots Nearby
Then a short walk down the hill from the end of the track takes you to the old road to the village that takes you past the cemetry and then a talayotic structure with two towers and an enclosure, which suggests a kind of settlement before the first Es Migjorn Gran (Sant Cristobal during Franco’s reign) was established.
The newest Talayot to start to be excavated, which offers some of the best sunset views as it overlooks the valley and therefore provides an excellent vantage point, is reached via a turning off to the right as you start the walk towards the beach on the modern road. It is signposted and involves a walk past an old farmhouse and down an old track that can be continued all the way to the beach.
The bottom gate for this track is at the top of the carpark by Es Brucs and San Adeodato beach. There is a No Prohibido de Paso sign however the gate is not locked and apart from walking through a farm where fiesta horses seem to be bred, provides an excellent and not indirect route down to the coast.
A talayotic period cave is Cova de Coloms. It is in the gully – called a Barranc – of Bini Gaus, a mile walk from the cemetry or grave yard just beside Es Mijgorn Gran. A colony of bats are resident in the cave and it was called Pigeon Cave by a French explorer over a century ago.
Finally, another cave Polida, is also nearby and off the track on the way to Binigaus beach. The best way to ensure you reach Polida and Coloms is to set off with plenty of light ahead of you and follow the path for 30 minutes to reach Coloms, then you can carry on to the Bini Gaus beach passing the turn off to Polida on the way.
These maps show where the two caves are in relation to the turning off to Sant Augusti Vell.
Santa Monica 