Es Culleram

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Es Culleram or Cova d'es Cuieram

Cala San Vicente, a beach of Sant Joan de Labritja encompassed some of the island's oldest history.

An extraordinary cave, high above the village testifies to a local population in very ancient times. Called the Cova d'es Cuieram, its contents prove occupation even prior to the arrival of the Greeks, when the island's meagre population worshipped the goddess Tanit. The Punic shrine in the Es Cuieram cave was discovered in 1907 by members of the Ebusitana Archaeology Society and excavated to a depth of some 200 meters. In times gone by reed plantations reached right down to the sea and the area was one of the spots of most primitive beauty. The cave was then a place of funeral rites to ensure safe passage to the after-life for the loved ones of the rugged island survivors. Her influence is still well recognised by those who have arrived on the island more recently, and survived - with Tanit's blessing.

The cave has a huge domed roof and two floor levels. On the lower level there is a flat rock that was probably used for sacrifices. Amongst other items 600 terracota figures, a thousand figureheads and ceramic fragments were found. The most well known bell shaped figures are feminine, and have diverse symbols sketched on them; in a few cases they have their faces covered by a fine layer of gold. As for the chronology of the temple, the experts think that the bed was used from the end of the 5th century until the 2nd century B.C.

Some of the archaeological finds discovered in the cave are now on display in the Museo Monogrбfico del Puig des Molins in Ibiza.

You can get to the cave by following the signs on the Cala de San Vicente road in the north of the island. You can do part of the trip by car, but the last section has to be done on foot.

If you have the energy for a long walk, you can also go down through the pinewoods to the sea from the cave.

Cova d'es Cuieram Carretera Cala Sant Vicenз 07811 Sant Juan / Ibiza telephone: (+34) 971 310 900 for visiting times, call tourist information source and foto of archeology on Ibiza