Sant Francesc Xavier This is the most important church in Formentera. Originally a fortified redoubt, building on the church began in 1726. This parish church was constructed in the early eighteenth century as a fortress to protect the island from the many raids by invading pirates.

The Church of Sant Francesc Xavier, located in the town of the same name in the centre of the island approximately three kilometres from the port of La Savina, was built between 1726 and 1738 and considered Formentera’s most important church.

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were hard times for Formentera, since repeated raids by pirates and privateers who had made the island a kind of refuge and provisioning point depopulated it because of the lack of security.

In the late seventeenth century, the king of Spain began to grant land rights to encourage settlers to farm there and profit from it, which is when the island began to repopulate. Repopulation was consolidated during the course of the eighteenth century and the many new settlers outgrew the chapel of Sa Tanca Vella, which lead to the commencement of work on the new church of San Francesc Xavier on May 15, 1726.

The new church was conceived as a fortification and even housed several cannons until 1830. The building consists of a single, extended rectangular nave attached to the parish residence, which explains its height in the rear.

The front doors were clad in iron to increase their strength and are worthy of note. Inside the church is a prominent alabaster Byzantine-style baptismal font that dates from the fifth or sixth century. Its origin is unclear and some claim it came from a Vandal monastery that may have been located in La Mola.

[Via illesbalears.es website]