MERRY CHRISTMAS

Time goes by, and suddenly... It´s Christmas again.... Season of greetings, and season to meet the family. From Ibiza, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas with this self made card, from an image that comes from a small part of an aside altar of the cathedral of Ibiza, with this image of the Nativity. Hope you like it.

CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO IN FORMENTERA

CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO JAVIER IN FORMENTERA

On December 3 Formentera celebrates the feast of Saint Francis Xavier (San Francisco Javier) and the main church of Formentera is dedicated to him. Simple as the island itself, this church stands in the middle of the largest population of the small island. White walls inside this temple and architectural features as churches of the pitiusas, and very big looking outside, reminding us that, even built as a temple when the anxieties of Berber incursions were about to end, it could still have been used as a fortress against these dangerous attacks in case of need to do so.

By then, on the island there was only one place of worship, was the small chapel of Sa Tanca Vella, and early on the eighteenth century it was decided by the Archbishop of Tarragona, from which depended the churches of Ibiza and Formentera, build a large church and that was performed on the year 1726, with the collaboration of all the inhabitants of the island. The main altar we see today (pictured above) was added after the Civil War since the original was burned during the war.

The Church today is located in the middle of the main square of the town of Sant Francesc, and in front of the small council. A beautiful square which is the main meeting place for tourists and locals. A small and limed well it gives local charm, and next to it, we can see the ancient and massive defensive walls of the church.

And of course, we also see the calvary (set of three crosses that are usually at the entrance of churches of Ibiza and Formentera) at the outside white wall. Formerly the exterior walls of the church were not painted, so it had a hard aspect of a large grey building, currently whitewashed in its main facade. All this turns in a much more Mediterranean look, and it gives a especial atmosphere to all the square.

WATCHTOWER OF PUNTA DE SES PORTES

SA PUNTA DE SES PORTES

Located at the tip of Ses Portes, or translated would tip of the doors, and that is that this point is one of the two most southern of Ibiza and is therefore the gateway to it from the south. Hence came many dangerous hazards privateering raids that shook with fear to the inhabitants of the island. Therefore a strategic point to use it as a surveillance. Today we can see just below the tower, a group of varadero houses for fishermen as small docks where some local people save their small boats.

This tower is in a rocky area, between the beaches of Cavallet and Mitjorn (traditionally known as salinas). During the summer growing a plant species with beautiful white flowers adorning a bit, the desolate landscape of this place. Sand and rocks are only mixed with some native plants and junipers called here "sabinas".

This tower was one of the few on the island to be armed with canons and guns, as its strategic location was vital to prevent hazards and from reaching the main city. Their presence is dated around the sixteenth century, and as we see in the picture below its seaward views here are stunning, because the area looks to "Es Freus" in that little string of islands between the main island and Formentera, from here it´s possible to see the display that had the towers of ses Portes and the s'Espalmador tower, two towers that were vital to the safety of the island. In the picture below you can also see the lighthouse islet des Penjats, or what is the same, "the hanged" and that there is precisely where the pirates were executed.