The church of Sant Antoni, in the centre of the town and close to the port, is the second oldest church on the island, with the oldest being the Cathedral of Santa Maria de las Nieves in Ibiza capital. It was commissioned by the Archbishop of Tarragona in 1305, just 70 years after the Christian conquest of the island which, for centuries, had lived under Muslim rule. The new church was designed with two basic aims, namely to serve as a place of religious worship and also to act as a fortress against the incursions of Berber pirates. The original church was first built during the 14th century and was reformed in the 16th century.
The defence tower at the head of the church is polygonal in shape and crenellated at the sides. It was built in the 17th century and at one point was equipped with two canons which were used for the last time in 1818 when attempts were made to sink two smugglers’ ships from Gibraltar.
When the lookouts spied enemy pirates, they lit bonfires to warn the population who ran for the shelter of the tower. For this reason the church has no windows. The doors were formerly made of iron so that the enemy could not set fire to them, and a massive beam would block the doorway in the interior. Inside the church there was also a well with drinking water, in case the siege was prolonged for any length of time.
The church also has a covered porch outside known as the porxet and a wide patio where the locals would gather to mingle and chat after mass.
