Palmeral of Elche

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 covers an area of ​​1.5 km ² within the city of Elche and includes the City Park ( Parque Municipal) and many orchards with a. It contains over 11,000 palm trees, especially date palms. Some of them reach an age of about 300 years. At its peak in the 18th century, the Palmeral comprised approximately twice as large area and around 200,000 palm trees. The dates are harvested in December. The largest palm is the " Imperial Palm" ( Palmera Imperial ), this has seven tribes and thus the appearance of a candelabrum. The palm tree was named after Empress Sissi, who had visited the plantation in 1894.

History

It is believed that palm trees have been planted by the Carthaginians, who had settled in South-East Spain at this point in the 5th century BC. The grove has survived the Romans and Moors. The irrigation system was expanded in time Abd ar- Rahman I and is still in use. The present form of the Palmerals arose among the Moors in the 10th century. Although the area has only a rainfall of 300 mm, form the palm trees that have been planted along the irrigation canals from the salty river Vinalopó, a patchwork of farmland, which are deferred and shaded respectively through the palm trees, making its own microclimate is created. In 2000, the Palmeral of Elche was included in the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage. Since 2006 is also the palm grove - like all Palm stocks in the Mediterranean - increasingly threatened by the beetle Rhynchophorus ferrugineus.