Endless parties, trendy nightclubs and raves that don’t even end when the sun is rising in the Mediterranean. But Ibiza could also sound like peace and love, flower power and many hippies finding their paradise on Earth.
All of this is part of the island, of course, but we shouldn’t forget that we are also in a place with thousands of years of history, and thousands of years of history go a long way. The old city of Ibiza, in fact, is a World Heritage Site and it is not by chance or because it won it in a lottery played in its famous nightclub Pacha.
Along with the traces left by prehistoric cultures, there is also in this land the ones from the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, who, as you know, chose very well where to get set on their trade routes. And it turns out that the third largest island of the Balearic set was in a place favoured by winds and currents, which made it a strategic point for sailors. With time, this would bring both good and bad news, but that’s the way things worked in those turbulent times: one day they loved you very much and the next they hated you much more.
Ibiza was the scene of the Punic Wars, and it ended being in possession of Rome for a long time. Jumping forward in time, we find the Arabs dominating the place: it is the tenth century and the island, after many invasions and plenty of fights, becomes Muslim, staying that way until the thirteenth century when the Christian troops arrive to change the half moon for the cross.
Did the tranquillity come to Ibiza then? Not really, because during the following centuries one of the favourite pastimes of the Berber pirates would be to spread panic around this coasts with raids, that would usually end up in a lot of blood. So there was no other choice but to protect the coast with walls and bastions, and most of the impressive fortifications that you can see today in the city of Ibiza are due to the engineers of Philip II, who in the second half of the sixteenth century got busy defending his huge domains.
From the highest part of the historic city, Dalt Vila, you can enjoy beautiful views. Do not miss the steep stone streets, do stop for a while in front of the Cathedral of Santa María de las Nieves, with its medieval tower appearance, and take a walk through the picturesque neighbourhood of the Marina. There are plenty of AdLib fashion stores there, which emerged in the sixties when a lot of young people full of love, with long hair and flowery clothes, landed in these idyllic place. Who wouldn’t after visiting this wonderful island!