Palmeral of Elche
The Palmeral of Elche, a landscape of groves of
date palms, was formally laid out, with elaborate irrigation systems, at
the time the Muslim city of Elche was erected, towards the end of the
tenth century A.C., when much of the Iberian peninsula was Arab. The
Palmeral is an oasis, a system for agrarian production in arid areas. It
is also a unique example of Arab agricultural practices on the European
continent. Cultivation of date palms in Elche is known at least since
the Iberian times, dating around the fifth century B.C.