Gymnesian Islands "Baliarides". After the whole archipelago (the "Pityuses" and "Gymnesians") came under Roman rule, the islands gained the overall Latin name "Insulae Baliares" or "Baleares Insulae"; the collective concept has continued in use in modern languages, hence ultimately the English name "Balearic Islands". Gymnesian Islands The Gymnesians ( , ), or Gymnesic Islands (), is a collective name given to the two largest (and easternmost) Balearic islands, Majorca and Menorca, distinguishing them from the Pityuses (Catalan: "Illes Pitiüses"; Spanish: "Pitiusas"), or Pine Islands, Ibiza and Formentera. The word "Gymnesian" (from the Greek γυμνήτες "gymnetes") means "naked". The Ancient Greeks recruited the
Ottoman raid on the Balearic Islands (1501) attack the Spanish coast. In 1487 and again in 1492 when Granada fell, the Ottoman fleet was used to rescue refugees and ferry them to the coast of North Africa. A side effect of the raid seems to have been that a Spanish sailor was captured in possession of an early map of Columbus. Ottoman raid on the Balearic Islands (1501) An Ottoman raid on the Balearic Islands occurred in 1501 under the Ottoman admiral Kemal Reis. This raid was combined with attacks on Sardinia and Pianosa (near the island of Elba). The 1501 raid on the Balearics followed some