The Plaza de Armas in the municipality of Es Castell

In 1771 an order was given to build a settlement for the workers who built the Castillo de San Felipe, apart from the garrison of the fort and their families, which was located between Cala Corb and Cales Fonts. This new “arraval” had a layout in which the main square predominated, which had to be located on a somewhat elevated plane, and from the square, both the location of the barracks, which surrounded it, and the rectilinear set were drawn of streets that would give rise to the town of Georgetown.

Of the four barracks, two were for officers’ pavilions and the other two for soldiers, with Colonel MacKellar being the architect of the project.

The barracks had various uses as a result of the new and definitive Spanish domination of Menorca; The Spanish troops who besieged the castle of San Felipe in 1781 stayed there. Later it served as a Military Hospital and in 1811 it hosted the Artillery Academy during the Napoleonic invasion of Spain, it also housed the families of the workers who worked in the construction of La Mola and during almost the entire 20th century they were used for the accommodation of different military units.

One of the barracks, that of Cala Corb, is the current location of the Menorca Military Museum.