200,000 Palm Trees, 3000 years of history. Elche, Murcia.

On the south-eastern coast of Spain, where it was once ruled by the Muslim empire, is the city of Murcia.  The scenery of the region stands at a stark contrast from its northern neighbours, Valencia and Barcelona (Catalonia): miles of pale yellow sand and barren mountains toasted under the relentless sun.  Olive and palm trees peppered the landscape, but none of the green pasture we are so used to seeing in Catalonia is to be found here.  Even to Spaniards, this is an unspoiled region with little promotion of tourism and industrialisation.

60km northeast of the city of Murcia is the town of Elche.  This is a town that must warrant a day trip from Murcia, or even an overnight stay.  The main attraction is the cathedral, called Basilica of Santa Maria, and the UNESCO Heritage Site of the Elche Palmeral: a garden of 200,000 palm trees that trace its origin to the Phoenician in 1000BC.  It is a stunning sight to behold.

The Palmeral refers to a thick cluster of palm trees that were planted all over the town, which was founded by Greeks and later settled by Phoenicians (modern day North Africans from Tunisia).  Palm trees produce edible dates, and are indigenous to North Africa.  During the Muslim conquest of Iberia Peninsular (modern day Spain and Portugal) the Arabs started cultivating palm trees, perhaps to remind them of their home and to provide a source to one of their favourite foods.  The original spread of the palm grove was believed to be much larger; due to industrialization a lot of trees were cut down and preservation began in the 1920s.  Its inclusion into the UNESCO sites answer to the following criterion: "a remarkable example of the transference of a characteristic landscape from one culture and continent to another, in this case from North Africa to Europe".

You can catch a bird's eye view of the town and the Palmeral from the top of the church tower (2€ entrance and 166 steps).  The Palmeral, as mentioned above, spreads over the entire town; you can find the main park next to the Tourist's Information office.  A tourist bus (4€) takes you around the town in about an hour, with narration in Spanish only.

UNESCO: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/930

Murcia 位於西班牙東南部的沿岸，曾經被穆斯林帝國統治。Murcia 一帶的景色與其毗鄰的加泰羅尼亞省有著天淵之別，離開加泰羅尼亞省驅車南下後，綠油油的景色已經不再出現，佈景版上所換上的，是一片又一片的黃沙土地，以及遠處在烈日下暴曬的光禿禿的山脈。即使是對一般的西班牙人來說，這裏仍是一片未受污染的寶貴自然地帶，連在當地可以找到的旅遊資料亦不多。

從 Murcia 出發向東北走大概六十公里，便到達另一個不能錯過的小鎮 Elche。Elche 擁有一個屬於UNESCO世界文化遺産的棕櫚樹花園，這個花園的起源要追溯到公元一千年前，人們開始在這裏種植棕櫚樹。期後在羅馬大帝國統治西班牙地區的時期，來自非洲的摩爾人更將棕櫚樹花園擴大，希望把非洲家園的景觀移到歐洲。這個花園一直保存到現在，並植有二十萬棵棕櫚樹。

 

Elche 小鎮最初由希臘人建立，其後腓尼基人 (現今北非的突尼斯) 在這裏落地生根。棕櫚樹花園其實是指在包圍整個 Elche 小鎮的一羣一羣的棕櫚樹。這些棕櫚樹生産可以食用的棗，是北非的土產農作物。當穆斯林佔領伊伯利亞半島 (包括現今西班牙和葡萄牙的半島) 時，阿拉伯人已開始在這裏種植棕櫚樹，去緬懷他們的鄉愁之餘，亦給他們提供土產食物。本來這個棕櫚樹花園擴展得比現在的更大，但是由於工業化的關係，一部份的棕櫚樹已被移除，二十年代起政府才開始保育的工作。這個棕櫚樹花園景觀完完全全地把北非特色的景觀及文化轉移到歐洲，這正正符合了要列入聯合國教科文世界文化遺産的條件。

想飽覽整個棕櫚樹花園景觀，你可以到小鎮中央教堂的塔樓，付出兩歐元再走一百六十六級樓梯，你便可以從小鎮最高的建築物眺望這個令你畢生難忘的景觀；如果不想跑樓梯的話，你亦可以到花園門口的旅遊服務中心門口乘搭小火車，只需四歐元，小火車便會載你遊覽整個小鎮及棕櫚樹花園。小火車於每小時的正點開出，全程大約一小時，小火車上有西班牙語的講解。

UNESCO 網頁的介紹：http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/930