The Phoenician town of Sa Caleta, on the coast of Sant Josep, can be considered the birth place of the city of Ibiza. A visit there also offers beautiful views of the Es Bol Nou beach.

Sa Caleta is a small fishing port on the southeast coast of the island, between Es Codolar and Puig des Jondal. This place is a must if you want to learn how the city of Ibiza was born, since the first Phoenicians settled here throughout the 7^th century BC before moving to the big city.

The settlement shows a clear vision of western Phoenician house typology. They were built without order, juxtaposed, and with no preset floors. It is believed that the economic activities developed in San Caleta included metallurgy, iron production through specific ovens. Another financial support was the salt production that came from the ponds near the area.

It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, which displays the great importance of this settlement as the predecessor of a modern city. We owe a lot to the Phoenicians: urbanism, wheel pottery, iron metallurgy, and writing. But we also owe them the city’s growth, and, last but not least, the fact that the island has been written into modern history.