Ibiza, the capital of Minorca, lies in the south of the island in a sheltered harbor inlet open only to the southeast. It is now a popular holiday resort, particularly in summer, attracting visitors from all over the world, who come here to enjoy a relaxed, unconstrained holiday away from the conventions of everyday life.
Visitors arriving by sea enjoy an excellent view of Ciudad de Ibiza, with its houses rising above the harbor and the massive bastions of the upper town, with the church of Santo Domingo and the cathedral.
Above the lower town rise the massive walls of the fortress, built on the remains of the Arab walls between 1554 and 1585 by an Italian architect, Calvi, at the behest of the Emperor Charles V. The circuit of walls, with seven corner bastions and three gates, encloses the upper town (Ibizan D'Alt Vila) with its winding stepped lanes and old patrician houses.
The upper town is crowned by the Cathedral of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves (Our Lady of the Snows), built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Of the original Gothic building there remain only the tower and the sacristy doorway. The sacristy contains a small museum displaying handsome vestments and liturgical utensils.
To the south of the harbor is the lower town, now Ibiza's busy commercial and shopping quarter. The streets in its western part, La Marina, are lined with shops, boutiques, bars and restaurants. The street leading to the upper town runs past the fruit and vegetable market and the meat and fish market.
North of the cathedral, in the underground casemates of the fortress, is the Archeological Museum, with Phoenician, Punic and Roman antiquities found on the island.
Address: Museo Arqueológico de Ibiza, Plaza Catedral 3, E-07800 Ibiza, Spain
Finds from the Puig des Molins tombs, including many terracottas and a number of sarcophagi, are displayed in the Museo Monográfico, immediately adjoining the site. Some of the tombs in the necropolis can also be visited.
The upper town is entered through the main gate, the Puerta de las Tablas (with the arms of Philip II), the gatehouse of which is now occupied by a museum of contemporary art.
From the west gate of the fortress, the Portal Nou, the Via Romana leads to the Puig des Molins (Mill Hill), on which the largest known Punic necropolis, with some 4,000 tomb chambers, has been excavated.
Address: Puig des Molins, Via Romana 31, E-07800 Ciudad de Ibiza, Spain
The eastern district of Sa Penya, the former fishing quarter, is the oldest part of the town outside the walls. With its whitewashed houses and its picturesque nooks and corners it still preserves something of the atmosphere of the past in spite of its numerous cafes and boutiques.
Northeast of the cathedral and much lower down, just inside the outer walls, is the 16th century church of Santo Domingo, with tiled walls and floors and frescoes.
Northeast of Ciudad de Ibiza is the semicircular Cala Talamanca, where the hotel settlements of Talamanca and Ses Figueres have been built. The beaches are of fine sand, but are frequently littered with rubbish from the harbor. On the Isla Grossa is a lighthouse, the Faro de Botafoch.
On C 733, which runs north from Ibiza Town, is the fortified hamlet of Balafí, which has preserved its old-world aspect. The houses huddle round an old watch-tower to which the inhabitants used to withdraw for safety during Turkish raids.
On the northern tip of Ibiza, 30km/19mi from Ibiza Town, is Cala Portinatx, which offers many attractions for holidaymakers, with its beaches and its sailing and surfing schools. The bay is sheltered from the open sea by a much eroded rock barrier, usually lashed by heavy surf, which ends at Punta Galera.
Southwest of San José is the holiday resort of Cala Vedella, to the south of which is Cabo Jue, the southwestern tip of the island, with an old watch-tower, the Torre del Pirata.
2km/1.5mi north is the cave of Es Cuyeram, in which a sanctuary of the Carthaginian fertility goddess Tanit, remains of Neolithic pottery and a bronze plaque with inscriptions of the fourth and second centuries B.C. were found. Finds from the cave are now displayed in the New Museum in Ibiza Town.
The southern tip of the island, a few kilometers from Ibiza Town, is occupied by the area known as Las Salinas (Ibizan Ses Salines), where salt is produced in extensive salt-pans.
Once a small fishing village, San Antonio Abad, 15km/9mi northwest of Ibiza Town, has developed into a lively and noisy tourist resort and the island's second largest town. The whitewashed parish church, on a low hill, dates from the 14th century. A fortress-like structure, it retained a battery of cannon into the 19th century.
Address: San Antonio Tourist Office, Paseo de Ses Fonts, E-07820 San Antonio, Spain
From Ibiza Town a beautiful road runs 12km/7.5mi west to San José, chief place in the commune of that name. The picturesque cliff scenery on the west coast and the broad beaches of fine sand to the south have encouraged the large-scale development of tourist facilities in this area. The town's whitewashed church, on the main road, has on the right hand side of the porch a feature characteristic of many Ibizan churches, a stylized symbol of Golgotha consisting only of three crosses.
Address: San José / Sant Josep Tourist Office, Carrer Pedro Escanellas 33-9, Baleares , Spain
San Miguel (Ibizan Sant Miquel), 20km/12.5mi north of Ibiza Town, takes its name from the fortified medieval church of San Miguel on a hill above the village, which attracts many visitors with its presentations of folk dancing and singing. There is good bathing in a cove north of the village.
Near the northwest coast of Ibza is Santa Inés, with the Cueva de Santa Inés, a cave in which a catacomb-like chapel was discovered in 1907, together with fragments of pottery and Arab weapons. According to a local legend a wooden image of Santa Inés was found here in the 16th century.
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Ciudad de Ibiza
