Formentera - Formentera Island - Beaches Formentera

In these pages we are going to visit the remains of FormenteraÆs long historical past. It isnÆt easy to talk about the history of Formentera because a complete written history doesnÆt exist. There do exist, however, studies about certain periods which are undoubtedly important although there is still a lack of historical knowledge about some periods. To begin with, there are two issues to keep in mind when we speak about our history: first, the relation between the history of Formentera and that of Ibiza, especially from the tenth century, and second, the absence of continued human presence on the island. Formentera was practically uninhabited during two long periods when human presence was very reduced or inexistent. The first period was before the Roman conquest and corresponds to the Carthaginian period in Ibiza; the second period lasted from the beginning of the fifteenth century until the beginning of the eighteenth century when the repopulation began .

In these last few years there have been a series of archaeological excavations that have shed new light on the earliest periods of human presence in Formentera. Before these discoveries it was thought that, in contrast to the rest of the Balearics, the oldest relics were from the Punic period. Then in the summer of 1974, a megalithic monument, now the most important, was discovered in Ca Na Costa near the Estany Pudent. In La Mola there is an area 70 meters long where the pottery found on the surface coincides with that of Ca Na Costa.

In relation to the first period when the island experienced an important reduction in population, this is a dark period about which we know almost nothing. On the other hand, the important cultural and human changes that occurred in Ibiza during this periods are well known. The foundation of Ibiza as a Carthaginian city-factory dates from the year 654 B.C. The Carthaginian domination lasted until 123 B.C. when Ibiza became federated with Rome. Due to the fact that the Roman conquest was not a destructive one, the Carthaginian culture contined until approximately 200 A.D. In Ibiza there exist numerous Carthaginian remains while in Formentera very few exist.

Although some remains do exist, there is not sufficient information about them to be used as a basis for a history of this period. The majority of the remains which have been found are ceramics and no graves or dwellings, which would verify the existence of a Carthaginian population here, have been found. As a result, until this very day there are still many details to be clarified about this enigmatic period of our history.

Late Roman Period. This was a difficult period for the Balearics because they experienced the domination of various people: the Visigoths, the Byzantines, the Vandals, etc. During this period there are unconfirmed references about the existence in La Mola of a Vandal monastery in the fifth or sixth century. The baptismal font in the church of Sant Francesc dates from this same period. It is made of imported alabaster, copying the Byzantine style although made in a more rustic way. Its origins are not very clear and some believe that it came from the previously mentioned monastery. There also exist the remains of a small castle-like fortress or "castellum" from the Roman period in the area of Es Calo.

The following period was the Arabic domination which lasted from the end of the tenth century until the thirteenth century. Abundant remains were left from this period: waterwheels, wells, cemeteries, gravestones, grain silos, painted pottery, candle holders, etc. During this period pirates continued to pillage the island. One of the most well-known episodes was the plundering of the "des Fum" cave in the year 1118 when three viking boats under the command of Prince Sigurd of Norway attacked and plundered the cave, killing the defenders and taking all the treasures that were guarded thereThe following period was the Arabic domination which lasted from the end of the tenth century until the thirteenth century. Abundant remains were left from this period: waterwheels, wells, cemeteries, gravestones, grain silos, painted pottery, candle holders, etc. During this period pirates continued to pillage the island. One of the most well-known episodes was the plundering of the "des Fum" cave in the year 1118 when three viking boats under the command of Prince Sigurd of Norway attacked and plundered the cave, killing the defenders and taking all the treasures that were guarded there.

James I. The archbishop William of Montgri was in charge of the expedition. This Catalan presence in Formentera lasted until the fifteenth century when the depopulation occurred. The Romanic chapel called "Sa Tanca Vella" dates from this period. The chapel, which was built in 1336 on the outskirts of Sant Francesc, has now been restored as a historical monument. The theories about the motives for the depopulation in the fifteenth century speculate that it could have been caused by the serious social and economical crisis that affected Catalonia in the middle of the fourteenth century and also by the increase of piracy in the Mediterranean. From this time until the beginning of the eighteenth century, Formentera was uninhabited, although there were watchmen in lookout positions to protect Ibiza from any attack by sea .

In 1695 there was an official decree to begin the process of repopulation. The Crown donated part of the island to two men from Ibiza, Marc Ferrer and Toni Blanc. There had been earlier attempts in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries to repopulate the island, but no one wanted to live there due to the insecurity of the island. But this time there were more favorable circumstances: the piracy diminished considerably and consequently, the insecurity, and the combined result favored the process of repopulation of Formentera, which lasted until the eighteenth century. There are five watchtowers for defense which have remained since this period. During times of war there were soldiers in the towers and in times of peace there were only watchmen to give warnings of the slightest happenings. Little by little new settlers arrived and established themselves in Formentera. We can consider Marc Ferrer as the "founding father" of the actual people of Formentera. The first stable settlement was founded in 1726 in Sant Francesc and the modern history of the island began from that date.

The most important archaeological site in Formentera is, without a doubt, the megalithic monument located in Ca Na Costa that dates from between 2,000 B.C. and 1,600 B.C. In 1956 the archaeologist Mañá de Angulo published an explanation of the nineteen archaeological sites in Formentera. A large part of the objects discovered since 1904, the year from which there is written information, have been broken and have disappeared. In Ibiza and Formentera the mere searching for treasures was substituted by Roman y Calvet and his successors for the beginnings of archaeological science. Precisely the first of the sites described in MañáÆs article was that of the discovery of bronze axes: "...in 1910, on the tongue of land that separates the two lakes, two bronze axes and two bronze disc-shaped ingots were discovered. Both axes and one of the discs, which correspond to the end of the Bronze Age, are on exhibition in the Archaeological Museum of Ibiza. The other ingot is part of the collection belonging to P. Antonio Vives Escudero whose exact location is not known.

The first person to write seriously about this discovery was Jorge H. Fernández, who published two successive articles. In the first article he related the axes and ingots discovered to others of similar material that appeared in Ibiza where a total of eight axes, two ingots, and one dagger were discovered. In the second article, in which he confirmed his thesis of a prepunic population, he related a similar discovery in Formentera: José Escandell, owner of the country house "CÆan Mariano Gallet", was preparing the land for planting when he discovered eight bronze axes.

In May 1954 Friedrïch Oedl and his companion, Rudolf Huber, were staying in Formentera for a short time with the intention of visiting some of the caves of the island. In the cave of "dÆes Riuets" in La Mola, which is one the caves that constitutes a group called "Ses Mamelles", they discovered local pattery fragments that dated from the middle of the second millennium B.C., and they also found an imported piece of pottery of undetermined origin. In the judgement of Jorge H. Fernández, "Es Riuets" could be related to what he thinks was a fortified area that will be discussed later. The archaeologists Trias and Roca, referring to the discoveries in the cave, commented in their articles that "it is difficult to believe that this site was an isolated place of inhabitants in this sector of La Mola. Also, beneath the cave along the coast, we found some round fragments of indigenous pottery which could be related to a possible settlement." Returning to the group of caves and to a location almost on the edge of the cliffs of La Mola, to the north of the country house "Can Ferrer" where Jorge H. Fernández believed there was a fortified area, we must remember that it also could have been a burial ground. Today the entire area has been torn apart and many of the covering slabstones have been used to enclose the surrounding fields. But around 1960, the first time that the apparent wall was seen, it seemed evident to the common eye that there were the remains of rooms.

In 1974 the excavation and first studies of Ca Na Costa were begun. In 1979 the same procedure was applied to the "Castellum de Can Pins" which dates from the Roman Ages and is located in the area of Es Caló.

Another important discovery, called "The Circle of Es Cap", was made of some very interesting stone monuments and constructions although the archaeologists were not able to save them in time. There are some oral accounts that give the name of "es Palaus" (the palaces) to these monuments but this only tells of the admiration that the modern day Formenteran feels for such remains. The available information is that various circles of stone existed in the surrounding area, but today they have been completely destroyed. One of the circles that did not disappear is located in a flat area and has a diameter of 13 meters. Jorge H Fernández describes it like this: "in the interior of the circle you can observe divisions or compartments of oval shape and of a reduced size. The entrance is on the south side and apparently formed an angle but this might be due to the fact that some of the stones have been moved. On the north side a whole section is missing because the stones were used by the local people who dissolved pieces in water to make liquid lime to paint their houses. It seems improbable that this could have been a place to live in due to the scarce number of fragments found in the excavation." About 400 m. northeast of the circle is located a settlement that is the last prehistoric site that has been investigated up until now in Formentera. It apparently occupies an area of about 650 square meters. The visible part of the settlement brings to mind a settlement that exists in "Sant Lorenç" in Majorca although the one in Formentera is much smaller in size.