Palm grove of Elche

Palm grove of Elche
UNESCO world heritage
National territory:	Spain
Type:	Culture
Criteria :	ii, v
Reference No .:	930
UNESCO region :	Europe and North America
History of enrollment
Enrollment:	2000  (session 24)

The Palm Grove of Elche ( Spanish : El Palmeral de Elche , Valencian : Palmerar d'Elx ) is a palm plantation in the Spanish city ​​of Elche , Region ( Valencia ). It is the largest palm plantation in Europe.

The Palmeral extends over an area of ​​1.5 km² within the city of Elche and includes the city park (Parque Municipal) and many orchards. It contains over 11,000 palm trees, mostly date palms . Some of them reach an age of around 300 years. At its height in the 18th century, the Palmeral comprised an area about twice as large and around 200,000 palm trees. The dates are harvested in December.

A garden specially prepared for visitors is the Jardin Huerto del Cura . The Palmera Imperial (Imperial Palm) is the largest palm tree here. It has seven stems and therefore has the appearance of a candelabra . The palm was named after Empress Sissi , who visited the plantation in 1894.

history

It is believed that palm trees were planted at this point as early as the 5th century BC by the Carthaginians who settled in southeastern Spain. The grove survived the Romans and Moors . The irrigation system was expanded in the time of Abd ar-Rahman I and is still in use.

The current form of the Palmeral originated under the Moors in the 10th century. Although the area only receives 300 mm of rainfall, the palm trees that have been planted along the irrigation channels from the salty Vinalopó river form a patchwork of cultivated areas, each of which is delimited and shaded by the palm trees, creating their own microclimate.

In 2000, the Palmeral of Elche was UNESCO list of World Heritage added.

Since 2006 this palm grove - like all palm trees in the Mediterranean region - has been increasingly threatened by the beetle Rhynchophorus ferrugineus .

Web links

Commons : Palm Grove of Elche  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• The Palmeral de Elche in the list of UNESCO
• El Palmeral de Elche - A cultural landscape from Al-Andalus

Coordinates: 38 ° 15 ′ 52 "  N , 0 ° 41 ′ 27"  W.