Baluard de Santa Llúcia (Santa Llúcia Bastion), Ibiza

Whenever you visit the Dalt Vila, make sure to go up to the Baluard de Santa Lucía. This is the largest bastion in the fortified Old Town of Ibiza – designed in 1575 by the Swiss military engineer Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino (1520–1586), known as El Fratin or Il Fratino ("The Little Friar"), who served the Spanish Emperor Charles V and his son Philip II.

The structure has a rather unusual, asymmetrical plan, with original canons still seen at the top, that once guarded the upper town. Part of the bastion is the so-called Polvorin, a building that used to serve as a powder and weapons depot – currently an exhibition hall. The bastion is also frequently used as a venue for concerts or other events, including parties for the International Music Summit.

Other than that, Santa Lucía offers fantastic views over the harbor and the Gulf of Ibiza, as well as onto the roofs of the old houses of the Sa Penya district, formerly a fishing quarter and now one of the town’s most picturesque neighborhoods.