Ibiza, declared World Heritage in december 1999

These circumstances facilitated the settlement of different cultures and the creation of a large urban nucleus, that dates back to the Phoenicians' arrival. These people were representatives of trade and commerce throughout the Mediterranean area, and made Ibiza into a key trading point, that was to acquire maximum significance in the Punic period (from the 6th Century B.C. until the change in era).

Rural colonisation and exploitation of the island's natural resources date back to these times, with the saltworks as its principal industry.

The naming of the island as Eivissa, Biodiversity and Culture, thus represents an interrelation between Nature and Culture, two types of heritage that are historically united through the sea and the salt pans.

Cultural heritage

Sa Caleta: This town still conserves significant archeological remains. There is an exemplary model of a Phoenician settlement, the origin of which dates back to the 8th Century B.C. It is also an excellent illustration of Phoenician colonisation in its archaic phase; possibly the only settlement of these characteristics that is still in existence.

Puig des Molins Necropolis: Exceptional evidence of the Phoenician-Punic culture. With a surface area of 50,000 m2 and approximately 3,500 hypogeas, this is the largest and best conserved necropolis in the Mediterranean, as it was never subject to urban development in later periods. Within the enclosure is the Monographic Museum, that focuses on remains found on the site.

Dalt Vila (High Town): Renaissance walls. This historic area, formed of the Dal Vila fortress and its walls, is an urban nucleus of 14 hectares, divided into different areas that reflect the harmonic urban development that has occurred between the 8th and 20th Centuries. The walls form a boundary and give the whole area its personal characteristic. They are a master piece in Latin American fortification technology from the 16th and 17th Centuries, and were declared National Monument in 1942.

Natural heritage

The Posidonian Prairies: The Mediterranean surrounds the Pitiusa Islands, giving them a unique marine ecosystem with oceanic posidonia prairies that have no comparison anywhere else in the world, of incomparable underwater beauty. The resources that arise from these prairies have been and still are a mainstay in the creation of significant resources for the islands' economy: fishing, salt and, today, the tourist industry because of the intimate relation between beach formations and water purity.

Oceanic Posidonia sea-grasses

The Oceanic Posidonia prairies provide preferential protective elements in the Balearic marine ecosystem. They are endemic to the Mediterranean and are biologically highly productive. In fact they are one of the most productive ecosystems in the marine biosphere, covering approximately 60% of the Balearic seabed to a depth of 40 metres.

This vegetable species has adapted to living on the seabed, and has evolved from land plants. It is not seaweed; it is a marine plant that produces flowers and seeds in a similar way to the majority of land plants. It extends horizontally and vertically forming a woody reticular structure of "thickly rippling bushes" with leaves that come up to the surface to absorb light and minerals and roots that penetrate the sandy seabed to firmly establish itself.

It has some unique characteristics that justify its strict protection by law. Its long thousands of years of life. Its slow rate of growth. Its scarce reproduction. Its role as a foundation stone in the Mediterranean marine ecosystem.

Its high production of organic matter and oxygen makes it perfect to purify the water and provide a home for the thousands of species that live in it.

The masses of leaves that wash up on the beaches are the sign of quality that guarantee that the beaches are in their natural state of clean water and fine sand. This plant is the most valuable flag that can be hoisted on a beach as a sign of good environmental quality.

Dalt Vila

When you disembark at the port of Ibiza, you can commence a walk through the Sa Penya neighbourhood, the former fishermen's and sailors' neighbourhood, and visit Mercat Vell, a building constructed in Neoclassic style that houses the most ancient market in the city. A few steps away, going through Portal de Ses Taules gate, you will enter the historic enclosure of Dalt Vila, declared World Heritage in 1999 by UNESCO.

The bastions and retaining walls of the Renaissances walls envelop the triple lined mediaeval walls in mysteries and legends. Built in the 16th Century, they form one of the largest and best conserved defence monuments in Europe, and are a model of the 16th and 17th Century Latin American fortifications.

The urban nucleus grew up around the castle, and its interior architectonite distribution is a mirror of Mediaeval social hierarchy: the Cathedral (14th-15th Century), the University (self-governing body from the 14th to 18th Centuries, that now houses the Archeology Museum), the Court, the chapel of Sant Ciriac and the Local Council. Returning to Portal de Ses Taules Portal gate, you will find the Contemporary Art Museum, and if you cross the Plaça d’Armes square again, and the drawbridge, you will leave Dalt Vila.