CHURCH OF SANT MATEU

SANT MATEU D´AUBARCA CHURCH

Following the aesthetic canons regarding the rural Ibiza churches, this church Sant Mateu is the strictly enforced. White walls. Although being built in the eighteenth century its use was only religious and not defensive as those of Sant Antoni, Sant Miquel, Sant Jordi and Santa Eulalia that were built much earlier and its use was defensive. A sample of its white walls is the picture above, in which case, you can see that is one of the few churches that has retained its traditional pulpit (already disappeared in many others), and which is now fully disused.

At the center of the altar, the image of Saint Matthew which is held every September 21st. On either side an image of the Virgin Mary and St. Michael. The altar has blue and gold touches. The original was destroyed and probably burned in the civil war of 1936 like many others on the island.

At the back side of the church and contrasts with the pure white walls of this little temple is a small colorful stained glass of St. Matthew, who according to the tradition was evangelist and apostle and before that tax collector, a task that has little to do with the two others. Its iconography is represented by the figure of a winged man.En

Once back to outside we see again the importance of the whitewashed walls, contrasting with black crosses, the Way of the Cross (known as via crucis) and the Calvary (set of three crosses together that exists in all rural churches of Ibiza) which are located on the porch of this church. This porch already belongs to the nineteenth century, and was vital to guard visitors and mass assistants against the bad weather before and after church services, also was an important meeting point for the population as the houses were at very far distance from one each other. This church is a small temple not for its importance but for its simplicity and beauty it is worth pausing a moment and enjoy those whitewashed walls, that one day gave the island the nickname of White Island, in addition to being located surrounded by pine trees, vines, carob trees and a large area of ​​crops typical of the island and of great natural beauty. Not forgetting the wine festival now held early in the month of December due San Mateo is one of the largest producers of both vine and wine of the island.

TWILIGHT IN SANT ANTONI

AUTUMN TWILIGHT IN SANT ANTONI DE PORTMANY

This former fishing village has undergone a brutal metamorphosis in the last 40 years. But accustomed to extreme changes also, completely changes from summer to winter offering two completely different faces. Also its image, what was the big tourist attraction and the first arrival of a respectful and polite tourists to the island by Sant Antoni in the seventies, today is the shame in many aspects of the locals and in tourism since the model is actually the model not to follow for any destination wishing a good image for itself, and (that´s the worst) with the approval of some local politicians who look the other way this big problem.

Loud noises, screaming, and drunk tourists of a part of the visitors in this town in summer are now over, and give way to a complete calm in winter and now is hard to remember the bad image of this place (well deserved in other side) that has the people. And it's not for lack of means, as Sant Antoni could be (as it already was) the best destination in Ibiza. Proof of this is the bay that is by far the most beautiful on the island. Another is its port, which along with the town skyline as seen in these images could be an idyllic vacation spot for all audiences (as was, in the past). In any event, Sant Antoni´s sunsets are unique, perhaps even better in winter than in busy summer.

MILL IN PUIG DEN VALLS

THE MILL OF PUIG D´EN VALLS

Simple architecture, as anything ancient on the island, whether churches, houses or these nice old windmills that allowed people to grind the wheat and eated bread, in times where there were more scarce goods than at present. This mill is located at the top of a "puig" (hill) just opposite the city of Ibiza which is also a hill and is the oldest part of town known as Dalt Vila.

Unlike the popular windmills of La Mancha (in the spanish mainland) these ones in Ibiza have two more poles, a total of six, like the rest of the neighboring islands, although I must say that both Ibiza and Formentera are the simplest of the Balearic Islands due the lack of housing as a larger square at its base as it happens in Mallorca and Menorca, making them much larger than these ones in Ibiza and Formentera. This discreet but beautiful mill is not used anymore from the civil war, but milling wheat from its construction even before the year 1800s.