Ibiza's History

Who was here before you?

To try and give a short history of Ibiza is as arduous as it is difficult, given its optimal geo-estrategic position on the Mediterranean ,its easy to imagine that any invading army would be interested in having it as a magnificent base from where to organize future invasions and take control of the area, essential in any war and important for any empire. For that reason we will try to be brief but descriptive.

The first inhabitants of Ibiza already enjoyed the climate and countryside here in pre-historic times as our anthropologists and paleontologists have discovered by studying the remains at many sites.

Later the Greeks, around VIII a.c. established a base here and although they didn´t stay very long, they did give the name of “pitiusas” (islands with pines) to Ibiza and its sister island, Formentera.

Between the times of the Greeks and Romans, came the Carthaginians, who did establish themselves permanently on the island, particularly in Ibiza town, known then as Ibsm, (in honour of their god Bes) This island was a perfect place to create a colony, with its protected port, fertile soil and abundant salt flats. This was an era of growth for Ibsm, which enjoyed some autonomy from the imperial capital Carthage.

The Romans were also here and Federated Ibiza to the Roman empire making it progressively lose autonomy during the six centuries that the Romans controlled the region.

From the Romans to the Moors, everyone who came to Ibiza, wanted to stay.Vandals, The Byzantine empire, Vizigods, until at last the moors arrived, whom as you well know, stayed a long time, from the VIII century to the XIII century, both in Ibiza and mainland Spain, where they were in Granada till 1492.

Far from just using Ibiza as a strategic military base , the Moors populated the island leaving behind a cultural legacy and many important improvements, such as an irrigation system and a high level of prosperity . Their cultural heritage is to be seen in many buildings and in moorish words used in the local dialect.

In 1234, King James 1, the conquerer, give orders to his army to invade Ibiza, which then became part of the Catalan kingdom.

If you think that peace reigned here from then on, you would be wrong. The Catalan kingdom was invaded by the kingdom of Castile and between the pirates and corsairs at sea and local uprisings on land , it would have been difficult to get bored here.

Today , true peace can be found here, on any of Ibiza´s coves or even walking along its busy streets. Visit the local museum in Dalt Villa, (Ibiza Town) and imagine all the events that took place behind these walls.

If you would like to know more about the history of Ibiza we highly recommend that you click on Wikpedia.