Chapel Sa Tanca Vella (Formentera)

Chapel Sa Tanca Vella

A small chapel for an island with a small population in the 14th century
Chapel Sa Tanca Vella

A small chapel for an island with a small population in the 14th century
Chapel Sa Tanca Vella

A small chapel for an island with a small population in the 14th century

Chapel Sa Tanca Vella

Simple chapel (ca. 1369) dedicated to Saint Valerius of Saragossa, one of the Crown of Aragón's most popular saints. Until the Sant Francesc Xavier church was built in the early 18th century, this small church was the gathering place of the new settlers on Formentera who had come from Ibiza.

The population of the Formentera island in the 14th century was scarce, yet that it was made up of Christians wanting to celebrate the rites, regardless of how adverse the circumstances were. Piracy and the terrible plague epidemics were decisive factors in the population problem.

In 1353, King Peter the Ceremonious referred to the depopulation of Formentera and his desire to repopulate it. From Ibiza, a request was sent to the Archbishop of Tarragona asking to authorise construction of a chapel on Formentera, near the cave of St Valerius, bishop of Saragossa in the 4th century who had the noted devotion of the Crown of Aragón in the Low Middle Ages, which is when the chapel was built.

The chapel itself is mentioned in documents prior to the repopulation of Formentera in the late 17th century. It consists of a small room covered with a half-barrel vault. Outside, its plain stone walls give it a look of austerity. In the 1980s, a few buildings that were flush against it were removed, leaving it open.