“Did the wind whisper secrets to the miller?” a child’s voice piped up from beside me. We stood before the Molí d’en Jeroni, a sturdy sentinel against the Formentera sky. The Molí d’en Jeroni, built in 1760 by the Tur “Jeroni” family, stands as a testament to Formentera’s agricultural past. Formentera, possibly meaning “Island of Wheat,” once relied heavily on its windmills to grind grain into flour. The Molí d’en Jeroni is one of seven windmills that dotted this landscape. These 18th-century structures share a similar design: circular, whitewashed, three-story buildings with large wooden sails and a movable conical roof to catch the wind. The top floor housed the machinery. The middle floor collected the flour. The ground floor stored the grain. The Molí d’en Jeroni sits on Sa Mirada hill, near the Dalt de Portossalè road outside Sant Francesc. Its strategic location, 64 meters above sea level, maximized wind exposure. From here, the view encompasses Migjorn, La Savina, Es Vedrà islet, and Ibiza. In 1958, a fierce windstorm damaged the Molí d’en Jeroni, leaving it without its sails. It wasn’t until 1991 that the mill was restored to its former glory. While privately owned and its interior inaccessible, the Molí d’en Jeroni’s exterior remains a powerful symbol of Formentera’s heritage. It stands against the backdrop of the endless blue, a silent storyteller whispering tales of wheat, wind, and the island’s rich past.
Institut d’Educació Secundària Marc Ferrer
What if I told you that this very building is a melting pot of cultures, languages, and dreams? This is