Ibiza Cathedral
Ibiza Cathedral, Catedral de Santa Maria de la Neu de Vila d'Eivissa
- The extremly dominant Ibiza Cathedral tops the hill of the old town of Ibiza
- Surrounded by the towns massive thick fortified Walls or The Ibiza Castle
Dalt Vila Gates Ibiza entrances to Ibiza's Fortified Old Town
There are 5 gates or entrances in Dalt Vila the fortified Ibiza old town.
- 1. Gate Portal de ses Taules. The main gate with drawbridge.
- 2. Gate Ballard de St Joan. The only gate that allows cars to & from Dalt Vila .
- 3. Gate Portal Nou. At the eastern end of Dalt Vila
- 4. Tunnel to Cathedral. At the rear of Dalt Vila near Car parks. The tunnel corkscrews upwards within the walls and does a 450 degree twist
- 5. Tunnel to Town hall. At the rear of Dalt Vila near Car parks. The Tunnel runs downwards under the outer side of the wall exiting level with the road within the walls. Because of the slope of the hillside the ground level is much lower within this section of wall.
- The two tunnel entrances are only 200 metres apart.
- Murder hole definition
1. Gate Portal de ses Taules or Porta de Mar (Sea Gate)
- Portal de ses Taules is the Portal de ses Taules, the old town of Ibiza (Eivissa).
- This is the most spectacular of the 5 entrances
- Access is gained via a steep ramp that starts in C. D'Antoni Palau by the town market (Mercat Vell) .
- Ladies should note that this ramp and the streets, many steep, throughout Dalt Vila are made of shiny cobbles that can be extremely slippery. I therefore recommend sensible shoes instead of high heels.
- While at the top of the ramp check out:
- The depth of the defensive deep dry ditch has been partially filled in..
- The ditch is crossed by a wooden drawbridge that was lifted by strong thick iron chains.
- Also view the 2 niches located on either side if the gateway containing roman statues , and the large coat of arms of Felip II and inscription below.At the top od the ramp is a deep dry ditch
- Looking to the right you can see how the canon positions protect the gateway.
- On the left are the terraces of some gay bars that look good at night with there external coloured lighting.
- A portcullis used to protected the gateway. Notice the thickness of the wooden gates, there are 2 sets.
- Also notice the thickness of the walls, about 5m, as you walk through & turn right into a courtyard, Placa d' Armes.
- Immediately on the left after passingthrough the gate way you will see a recess, this is where the guards could sit down on two benches and the enclosure contained a fireplace.
- Turns in entrances were another defencive feature.
Night View of Gate Portal de ses Taules. The main gateway into Dalt Vila.
Day view of Gate Portal de ses Taules.
- The gateway has 2 sets of impressive wooden gates, drawbridge, iron lifting chains, and coat of arms above the gate.
The 2 sets of thick wooden gates of Gate Portal de ses Taules
Looking down from Sant Llucia bastion on to the ramp & drawbridge leading to Gate Portal de ses Taules and the Sant Joan bastion
Diagram of the Coat of Arms of Felip II that can be seen above the gateway.
Square of Arms (Plaça de Armes)
Looking through the Gate Portal de ses Taules from the courtyard, Placa d' Armes
Day & night views of Gate Portal de ses Taules courtyard Placa d' armes Located at the back of the far archway on the right side is Guard resting position
Guard resting position Just inside Main gate
Diagram Guard resting position with an open fire
Gate Portal de ses Taules Gate
inner gateway at night. Photo taken from Placa de Vila
Inner Gate daytime. This gate way in located at the inner end of the Placa d' armes
2. Gate Ballard de St Joan.
Gate Ballard de St Joan
Gate Ballard de St Joan as viewed from the Portal Nou Bastion
- The only gate that allows cars to & from Dalt Vila enters through the St Joan bastion, (Ballard de St Joan).
- Cars require a Residents Permit. No permit is required for pedestrians & Mopeds
3. Gates Portal Nou .
- This gate is located on next to Sant Pere Bastion on it's the hill side and gained through the small park, parc Reina Sofia.
- The gateway is tucked away in a corner and well protected from enemy cannon fire by the bastion in front of it. The actual gate is also recessed into the wall further protect from cannon.
- When in the recess look up to see the wide murder hole covering the full width of the recess. Inside the gate there is another murder hole in the ceiling of the passage that has gates. notice the thickness of the walls, the passage is uphill and fairly fairly steep.
Gateway Portal Nou in Dalt Vila located in a recess at the end of the wall on the right. Protected from can fire by the Sant Pere Bastion on the left and the recess.
Night & Day photographs of the Portal Nou gateway, Dalt Vila.
Note how the gateway is recessed into the wall giving additional protection to the gate way from cannon fire. The full width of the recess is further protected by a Murder hole
Wide Murder hole covering the full width of the in front of the Portal Nou Gate, Dalt Vila
Murder hole inside the Portal Nou passageway
The Portal Nou passageway mich of it carved through the rockThe wall above are around 12m thick.
Night & day photographs inside the Portal Nou passageway Dalt Vila
The inside of the Portal Nou gateway, Dalt Vila
Wooden Gates in Portal Nou Dalt gateway, Dalt Vila
4. Tunnel to Cathedral. Porta d'es Soto Fosc
- The external entrance is near the highest of the car parks that are at the rear of Dalt Vila accessed by C. del Calvari road. From the Car park ascend the steps.
- The entrance built into the curtain wall by the right side of the Sant Bernat bastion is hidden by a mound of rock, now partially removed that would have also hidden & protected the entrance from cannon fire.
- The long steep tunnel winds up inside the walls doing a 270 degree twist. See drawing.
- Near the top of the tunnel are 2 short passageways, closed by iron grill gates, that lead to the
- The tunnel exits onto the rampart walkway against the walls of the castle / Casa Govermental.
- The defencive murder hole top is located on your right as you leave the tunnel on the outside side of the parapet surounded by a wall about 1m high.
- To go to the Cathedral continue in the same direction as you exit the tunnel and take the first turning to your left. Before doing this go in the other direction to the bastion and enjoy the magnificent view from this the highest bastion.
Drawing of Tunnel to Cathedral from outside the walls at the rear of Dalt Vila
Inside the Tunnel to the Cathedral
Murder hole in Tunnel to the Cathedral
5. Tunnel to the Town hall
The external entrance to the Tunnel to the Town hall is only 100 metres from the external entrance to the Tunnel to the Cathedral and accessed from the slightly lower car park. From the Car park at the very end of C. del Calvari go down the flight of steps and the tunnel entrance is in front of you in a hole in the ground.
This tunnel goes steeply downwards to a much lower level within Dalt Vila and exits into the Placa D' Espanya opposite the Town Hall, Ajuntament d' Eivissa. The Placa D' Espanya is one of the bus stops for the Vilabus on route 45
Entrance to Tunnel to Town hall in photo centre
Because of the location of the tunnel entrance in the ground rather than the wall. I wonder if this tunnel is a modern addition or if it was a secret entrance to the old town.
Murder Holes
- Murder holes are holes in the ceiling of a passage or gateway allowing, well protected defenders to hurl stones, fire muskets or pour boiling water or oil , red hot sand or other nasty substances onto besiegers.
- Another use of murder holes allowed the defenders to pour water onto gates if attempts were made to set them on fire by attackers
Open Air Cinema
- Customers lay on Bean Bag Loungers
- On the building rooftop
- Located at the right side as you exit Portal Nou top entrance/exit next to Saint Peter Bastion (Baluarte de Sant Pere)