Ibiza History

The history of Ibiza, like many other places in the Mediterranean has been chaotic, belicose,
and marked by tremendous upheavals, seiges, pirates and take overs by the most powerful neighbors of the island.

It is a ANCIENT and fascinating story that dates before written languages and recorded history, and it has still not been completely exposed.

IBIZA HISTORY TIMELINE:

4860 - 4450 BC	First signs of Neolithic human presence on Ibiza. (imported animal skeletons).
2000 -1600 BC	The Copper and Bronze Ages...Formentera-Cap de Barabaria. Cave of Es Cuieram
700 B.C	Phoenician occupation and settlement of Ibiza as a major trade port. Founding of the Ibiza (Ibosim) Necropolis.
814 BC	Carthage (Tunesia) founded by the Phoenicians
734 BC	Founding of Rome.
230 - 200 BC	Decline of Punic occupation if Ibiza
146 B.C	End of the Punic wars. Carthage falls to Rome.
74 AD	'Ebusus' . The Roman occupation.
455 AD	Vandals fromm North Africa conquer Ibiza.
535 AD	Byzantine occupation of the western Mediterranean (but not Ibiza).
713 AD	Beginning of Moorish occupation
1235 AD	Catalan conquest of Ibiza

Recently, new archeological discoveries have done much to help clarify how the
ancestors of Ibiza lived, their traditions and means of survival, and most of this information is FREE. Unfortunately, the fascinating story of Ibiza is not widely available in the world wide web.

So this small directory in ibiza-hotels.com is our attempt to give you a brief summary of how it all happened......

2600 years ago, the Phoenicians arrived on Ibiza, and it has been continously inhabited since then.
The urban nucleus was what we now call D'ALT VILLA (the old town).
The current fortress of Ibiza was added on to without much planning by the different conquerors of the island, and is surrounded by various walls (some of which are only partly excavated).
The imposing walls visible today are the product of the Italian architect Calvi in the 16th century.

Calvi was already famous for his construction of the walled city of Cadiz, and built the Ibiza walls with seven bastions or ramparts fortified with cannon emplacements, and encompassed the Cathedral (14th-16th century), the University (not a school-but the local government was called the 'University')...and this is where the archeological museum is located today.

At the opposite end of the Cathedral square is the Almudaina's Palace ....The home of the Arab rulers ( 7th -13th century )of Ibiza which is currently in restoration.