Spain
Ibiza
Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture, is renowned for its marine ecosystems, Phoenician ruins and fortified acropolis.
The marine ecosystem along the shoreline of the islands of Ibiza and Formentera is notable for its well-preserved Posidonia, a kind of seagrass. Ibiza has its roots as a Phoenician harbour and the 16th-century fortifications of its Upper Town have influenced harbour towns in the Spanish New World.
Community Perspective: Puig des Molins is the most interesting of the Phoenician sites to visit, and the Ses Salines Nature Reserve on Formentera is worth taking the ferry for from the party island of Ibiza proper.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture (ID: 417)
- Country
- Spain
- Status
-
Inscribed 1999
Site history
History of Ibiza
- 1999: Revision
- Successor of D'alt Vila TWHS (1985)
- 1999: Advisory Body overruled
- ICOMOS and IUCN recommended “Referral” and “Deferral” respectively
- 1999: Inscribed
- Inscribed
- 1987: Rejected
- As D'alt Vila: Not enough historical evidence. Later - would reconsider in new evidence
- WHS Type
- Mixed
- Criteria
- ii
- iii
- iv
- ix
- x
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- en.balearsnatura.com — Salt marsh natural park Ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera
- tourism.eivissa.es — Puig des Molins Museum-Necropolis
- ibiza.travel — Ibiza Travel
News Article
- April 23, 2013 fishnewseu.com — Anchors destroying posidonia meadow in Ses Salines
- May 29, 2006 ibiza-spotlight.com — Ibiza's Monster Marine Plant
Community Information
- Community Category
- Natural landscape: Marine and Coastal
- Archaeological site: Phoenician
- Urban landscape: Colonial
Travel Information
Recent Connections
View all (37) .Connections of Ibiza
- Individual People
- Geography
- History
- Ecology
- Damaged
- World Heritage Process
- Religion and Belief
- Human Activity
- Constructions
- WHS on Other Lists
- Science and Technology
News
- fishnewseu.com 04/23/2013
- Anchors destroying posidonia meado…
- ibiza-spotlight.com 05/29/2006
- Ibiza's Monster Marine Plant
Recent Visitors
Visitors of Ibiza
- Alberto Rodriguez Gutierrez
- Alexander Lehmann
- alicemears
- Allison Vies
- Ana Lozano
- Angela Vandyck
- Anna Olshäll
- ArnaudFilloux
- Atila Ege
- Bill Maurmann
- Bin
- Bropyk
- byronb
- CampbellME
- Carlo Medina
- Carlos Garrido
- CherylKla
- ChrisN
- Christian Wagner
- Christine
- Christoph
- Christravelblog
- cmtcosta
- Cobaltrage
- Corinne Vail
- Craig Harder
- Csaba Nováczky
- Daniel Chazad
- Daniel Gabi
- Danniella
- Danny L
- David Pastor de la Orden
- d.dedisse@vogo.fr
- DimiFW
- Dimitar Krastev
- dmscanlan
- Dorejd
- Dutchnick
- Dwight Zehuan Xiao
- edstar500
- Els Slots
- Emili Xaus
- Emily Cullen
- Fabian Teusch
- fabi-ddorf
- Fan Yibo
- Farinelli
- fedemarch92
- Femke Roos
- finsbury_jo
- FK
- flitterfever
- Fmaiolo@yahoo.com
- forest80
- fozzak
- Frankwsolak
- Gary Arndt
- George Gdanski
- Gernot
- Glenn Nightingale
- Hammeel
- Harald T.
- Harry Mitsidis
- Hdhuntphotography
- Hughes1920
- Iain Jackson
- Ivan Rucek
- Jana and Matt
- janameerman
- janem
- Jasam
- Jay T
- Jeanne OGrady
- Jesse S 2010
- Joebobs
- Joel on the Road
- john booth
- Jonas Kremer
- Jon Eshuijs
- Judit Dalla
- Junwang111
- Just_hatched
- KarenBMoore
- Keith90245
- Kelly Henry
- Klaus Freisinger
- Krijn
- la caperucita roja
- La Concy
- Lara Adler
- Laurey
- Lazerway
- Linz
- Loic Pedras
- Longdutch
- lou1983
- Luboang
- Luis Filipe Gaspar
- Maciej Gil
- Martina Rúčková
- Martin Richardson
- maryhattie
- mchugho
- Mike
- Mikko
- Milan Jirasek
- Monica Tasciotti
- Msarmiento1979
- napalm
- Nihal Ege
- ninalr
- Nuria8
- Paczeterson
- paolosan82
- Pascal Cauliez
- Patrik
- Peter Alleblas
- Peter Lööv
- Petteri
- Philipp Leu
- Philipp Peterer
- Porcho
- Preiki
- Rahelka
- Randi Thomsen
- Reiseblog
- Riomussafer
- Roel Sterken
- Roger Ourset
- Rom
- Roman Bruehwiler
- Rudegirl
- Sabrina Liebehentschel
- Sachin
- Sandmann15
- Sandra!
- Sascha Grabow
- scubarrie
- SHIHE HUANG
- Socon
- Solivagant
- Stanimir
- stephanvermeulen
- Svein Elias
- Szabolcs Mosonyi
- Tarquinio_Superbo
- Thomas Buechler
- Thorben
- TimPick
- tommasorossotti
- Tonisan
- tony0001
- Travelure
- triath
- Tsunami
- ValiaVeweth
- Vanessa Buechler
- Victoria | Bridges and Balloons
- Walter
- Werner Huber
- WILLIAM RICH
- Wojciech Fedoruk
- Xiong Wei
- zinar7
- Zoë Sheng
Community Reviews
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Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture is one of the most eclectic WHS on the list. It includes seagrass beds, salt lakes, Phoenician ruins and 16th-century military fortifications. As far as I am aware, there is no common link between these features besides their geographical proximity. Previous visitors rated this WHS a meager 2.08 out of 5 stars on average, so my expectations were not high when I flew out to Ibiza for a weekend in late February. But at least I would enjoy 2 days in the sun while it was freezing severely at home.
Saturday I spent on Formentera, Ibiza’s small sister island that lies half an hour away by ferry. It is much more unspoiled and features 32 ‘green routes’ of hiking and bike paths. The northern tip of Formentera is also part of the core zone of this WHS. It is known for two things: the salt flats, where flamingos and other birds nestle in winter. And for the ecosystem of the Posidonia seagrass – possibly the most unknown part of the site’s OUV.
By following trails #1, #19 and #2 from the harbour of Formentera, I created a nice 14km hike through Parque Natural de Ses Salines. I was looking out mostly for the seagrass and was expecting to see long, flat strips of green leaves underwater near the shoreline. I had no luck until I entered the beach of Ses Illetes (‘the best beach in Europe’, and a nudist beach too!). It is renowned …
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Q - “So, where are you off to this time?”. A- (somewhat diffidently!) “Oh, just to Ibiza!”. Response - “Not your normal sort of destination?” And that was true - for over 50 years we had passed over the Balearics as not being “worth” bothering with! But now they contained 2 of our last 3 unvisited Spanish WHS so the time had come to grit our teeth and join the “hordes”. But our timing in late March 2016 meant that we were well out of season and the resort areas beyond Ibiza centre were ghost towns. However, this also meant that museums and buses were still on the winter timetable, whilst our selection from among the all-night discos was to be severely limited!
We decided to get to Ibiza by taking the ferry from Palma after a few days in Mallorca - a 4 hour trip which gave us a fine view of the old town from the sea as we entered Ibiza port (photo) As other reviews have commented, the inscribed site has 4 elements and we took in 3 of them, leaving out the Punic site of Sa Caleta as no buses ran there on Sunday and a view of a few low walls seen through a boundary fence didn’t seem worth getting a taxi or rent-a-car for. We did pay a visit to the northernmost part of the Salines area. That is situated just south of the airport (the …
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There are some who go to Ibiza for the parties, and there are some who go for the World Heritage Site; count me in the latter group. When I was looking for an easy day trip from Barcelona in spring 2013, I settled on Ibiza since it was only a short flight away. Over 2600 years ago Ibiza was settled by the Phoenicians, who named their new port after the Egyptian god Bes (fittingly the god of music and dance). The Phoenician settlements and the fortified Dalt Vila, or Upper Town, in Ibiza Town form the cultural backbone of this mixed heritage inscription. On my visit, I spent a good couple of hours walking around the Upper Town ramparts and learning about the city's Arab, Catalan, and Spanish heritage. Unfortunately the cathedral was closed, but the views of the town, harbor, and rocky coastline from the fortress walls were impressive. Ibiza's natural component of its mixed heritage inscription is for coastal marine life supported by underwater seagrass. While I didn't get to see this component up close, I was very impressed with Ibiza's natural beauty, particularly on the rocky north shore near the Port of Saint Miquel, which, although not part of the inscribed area, was extremely photogenic.
Logistics: Ibiza is accessible by boat or plane, and I found it relatively easy to travel around the island via the local bus system.
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Surprisingly for many people, the holiday and party island of Ibiza has a wide range of historic and natural attractions that were somewhat randomly put together in one WH site. The major sight is Alta Vila, the historic centre of Ibiza Town. It sits on a high hill similar to the Acropolis and offers great views over the sea and the island. It is surrounded by a well-preserved city wall, and features several historic buildings, including the cathedral. Unfortunately, the archaeological museum next to it has been closed for budget reasons since January 2010. A short walk away, the Punic site of Puig des Molins has been closed for similar reasons since October 2010, although you can see quite a bit through the fences. The small archaeological site of Sa Caleta, on the coast near the airport, is also included, but there is really not much to see (only a small enclosed area with a few walls and stones). The natural component is the Ses Salines Nature Reserve, which covers the southern part of Ibiza, the northern part of Formentera, and the small rocks and seas between them. Taking the ferry between the islands gives you a good overview, and I also visited the Ses Salines beach on the southern tip of Ibiza, which includes walkways through pine forests and paths along the salines. I'm not sure if I saw any of the famous Posidonia sea grass, although it is entirely possible (hard to tell from normal algae). I arrived …
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Eivissa town is very compact which made reaching the castle and cathedral atop D'Alt Vila easy despite the steep hill upon which it is situated. The necropolises and one remaining windmill of the Puig des Molins are similarly situated.
I took bus #11 out past the airport to visit the salt lakes of Ses Salines as well as the nearby sandy but shadeless beach.
Afterwards I took a #26 bus around the coast to Sa Caleta where I walked out to the cliff edge to visit the excavated Phoenecian village.
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