Ibiza is the smallest of the five municipalities that make up Ibiza. In fact it covers little more than the built up area of Ibiza town itself. However, it is a municipality so steeped in historical culture that it can justifiably claim to be the reason for UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, choosing to add the Pitiusan Islands to its World Heritage collection.
Becoming a member of this exclusive international club should ultimately help to change the world's perception of the islands as a venue purely for sun, sea and nightlife.
Ibiza town (Eivissa) is home to two of the Pitiusas four nominated World Heritage sites - Dalt Vila, the fortified old town, and the Punic necropolis of Puig des Molins, which contains traces of the original settlers of the islands.
The other two sites are:-
1) The subterranean Posidonia meadow to the south of Ibiza, at 8 km across and possibly up to 100,000 years of age, is believed to be one of the largest single organisms on the planet and has largely created the rich marine diversity to be found beneath the waves around this part of the Mediterranean
And
2) The ancient Phoenician settlement at Sa Caleta, some 5 kilometres distant along the south coast. It appears that this was the original choice of capital of the corner of the island first inhabited. Further explanation led to the choice of Ibiza as another alternative.
Dalt Vila, the old town, is a history book in itself. The many layers of earth upon which it stands contain remnants of all of the many cultures that have inhabited the island; from the very first settlers through the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Moors up to the Christian conquest in the 13th century.
The World Heritage membership is definitely helping to preserve more and more of the discoveries that are still regularly being discovered all over the islands. As long as this trend to protect our heritage continues, the more likely it becomes that those behind the massive building projects (e.g. roadworks) that have unearthed recent finds might at last recognize their opportunity to be seen in favourable light?
