Sant Josep de sa Talaia (, es, San José Obrero) is a village and municipality of the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

in western

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its la ...

. The village is west of the capital

Eivissa Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its la ...

and is located on the PM803 highway between Eivissa town and

Sant Antoni de Portmany Sant Antoni de Portmany (, es, San Antonio Abad) or San Antonio is a town on the western coast of Ibiza. It is the second-largest town and municipality in Ibiza; an island described by ''Time Out'' magazine as "arguably the clubbing capital o ...

. The town is from the island's airport."Ibiza Formentera", Road Map, Pub: Kompass, As of 2006, the population of the municipality is 26,133.

The Parish Church of Sant Josep de sa Talaia

In the early years of the 17th century the population of village had grown considerably. At this time the nearest place of worship was at

and the local population needed a church somewhat closer to their homes.Information and History Pamphlet produced by Consell Insular d’ Elvissa l Formentera In 1726 the inhabitants of the area then named es Vedrans and Benimussa asked the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

, Manuel de Samaniego y Jaca, who was visiting the island, to approved the building of a new church. The archbishop agreed to this request and on 15 August 1729 the first mass was held on the site.

Construction

A master builder from Denia in

province of Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province. Likewise, the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community (Alica ...

, called Pere Ferro, was employed as construction supervisor in 1730 and construction began. Master Pere Ferro had a good reputation and had previously been employed by

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

to work on the renovations of cathedral of Santa Maria de Eivissa in the capital. The master builder was assisted by members of the local families in the construction. Even the women and young girls of the village lent a hand by carrying water from the "Font des Verger" well to the site. In 1731 the last keystone was laid in the vaulted roof which marked the completion of the church. The church which had been dedicated to Saint Joseph and in 1785 it became the Parish church.

Visiting

The Parish Church of Sant Josep de sa Talaia is one of the most popular churches to visit on the island. Many holidaymakers find their way here as part of official island tours. Unfortunately many of the churches original religious art works were damaged or destroyed in the violence of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

of 1936. The wooden

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

style pulpit did survive and dates from between 1761 and 1763. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, acces ...

is decorated with a representation of the mysteries and was painted by Josep Sánchez Ocaria of Mallorca. Despite the damage to the churches artefacts the Patrimony Department and the Saint Joseph parish continue an ongoing program of restoration work to the works of art. Two such restored works are a statue of

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

the mother of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

and a painting of the Ecce Homo by Sánchez de Ocaña. The church has a single

Nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

which has a barrel vaulted roof. The walls to the side of the nave have several smaller chapels. File:Inside San Jose Church Ibiza 19 May 2011.JPG

Points of interest

Sublimotion Sublimotion is a restaurant located in Sant Josep de sa Talaia, Ibiza, Spain run by Michelin 2-star chef Paco Roncero who utilizes molecular gastronomy in cooking. In 2014, Sublimotion was awarded the prize Best Innovation Food & Beverage. A ...

, Michelin 2-star

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

considered the most expensive in the world

References

External links