Ibiza's Dalt Vila quarter

Villages | Ibiza

The walled enclosure of the city of Eivissa, traditionally called Dalt Vila, was fortified by Philip II to protect the city from Ottoman and pirate attacks. It has five entrance gates. The main gate, located in front of the Marina quarter, welcomes us after climbing a slope and passing a drawbridge, which is called Portal de ses Taules flanked by two Roman statues. Crossing this gate, we enter the Patio de Armas and, from here, we access the Plaça de Vila, the vital center of the neighborhood and the starting point to climb to the bastions. From the bastions you have a wonderful view over the bay, ses Salines and even the island of Formentera. Also here we find the Archaeological Museum of Ibiza that possesses many important pieces of the time in which Carthage dominated the Mediterranean. Next to the Archaeological Museum we find the Puig des Molins, the largest and best preserved necropolis of the Phoenician-Punic culture, with more than 3,000 tombs. It is the best collection of Punic remains in the world. The fortified enclosure of the city of Ibiza was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1999. This declaration also included the necropolis of Puig des Molins, the Phoenician settlement of sa Caleta and the posidonia meadows of the Natural Park of ses Salines.