HISTORY OF SANTA MARGARITA

Part 1) THE BRITISH CONNECTION      Part 2) THE ANGLICAN CHURCH

Part 3) THE BUILDING                               Part 4) OUR PATRON SAINT


THE BUILDING


Interior of the Church

Santa Margarita was originally a Carmelite Convent, comprising living quarters, a public chapel and a school. Its history began with a visit to Menorca by one of the founders of the Carmelite order of nuns, Francesc Palau y Quer. Whilst on the island he was introduced to the Turmo family of Menorca who wished to endow a chapel in Es Castell. The Roman Catholic Church already owned the building in calle Stuart, and in 1880 a request was made to convert it into a chapel, whose first priest was the Turmo's son, Eduardo. Eduardo's mother was Margarita, and it seems probable that the church was thus dedicated to her patron saint.

The chapel was closed during the Civil War, when terrible atrocities were committed on the island of Menorca. It reopened some years later, and the school continued to use the convent until 1975.

A weekly mass was said at the chapel until 1985, when Santa Margarita was loaned to the Anglicans.