Elche (Elx) - the city of palm trees. Elx is now one of the few cities in the world with two cultural treasures included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, the Palmerar (Elx Palm Groves) and the Misteri d'Elx play. Both are closely related to the city's historical past and identity, and it is impossible to understand Elx
The Palmerar d'Elx is made up of collection of date palms with an orthogonal structure. The presence of palms in the decoration of Iberian vases, from the 2nd century BC indicates that they were used in rituals. Nevertheless although there might have been palm trees in more ancient periods, the present day palm grove farming and irrigation systems are due to the Muslim oasis culture.
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The palm tree has lived therefore with the civilisations that have settled in this corner of the Mediterranean and the unique structure of the Arabic grove has reached the present day. Some monumental constructions such as the mediaeval defensive system were built amongst the groves. This union with the city has been kept throughout the urban expansion of the first third of the 20th century.
The Palm Groves are the city's main natural heritage. They are protected by a law that is an incentive to its maintenance. The palm tree apart from the landscape gives dates and white palms, the main element for Palm Sunday and the Misteri d'Elx in which an angel descends a white palm from heaven and hands it over to Our Lady the Virgin Mary. The most visited groves are the Huerto del Cura, the parc Municipal, the Parc Jaume I. the Parc del Filet de Fora and the Hort de Sand Placid, where the palm Groves museum is situated.
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