Palmeral of Elche World Heritage Site

Official name

Palmeral of Elche | UNESCO

Country

Spain | Map

Continent

Europe

Location

Province of Alicante, Autonomous Community of Valencia
38.2666° Lat, 0.7166° Lon | Map

Code

930

Time Zone

Europe/Madrid (CET, +0100)

Current Time

Category

Cultural

Description

Inscribed 2000. The Palmeral of Elche, a landscape of groves of date palms, was formally laid out, with elaborate irrigation systems, at the time the Muslim city of Elche was erected, towards the end of the tenth century A.C., when much of the Iberian peninsula was Arab. The Palmeral is an oasis, a system for agrarian production in arid areas. It is also a unique example of Arab agricultural practices on the European continent. Cultivation of date palms in Elche is known at least since the Iberian times, dating around the fifth century B.C.