Mills in Altoaragón - harinero, aceitero
Torres del Obispo
Torres del Obispo is perhaps
not that easy to find because it's not on the regular tourist track. From
Graus take the main road to the south and after a while turn left for Benabarre.
You'll soon reach Torres del Obispo. Straight on at the branch taking off to the
left and leading to the village center. You'll shortly reach a crossroads with
the southern entrance to Torres and a bridge giving access to a road with fast trafic.
At the other side of the bridge a narrow road leads to Juseu. The mill is situated
exactly at this point. The low stone walls are the top level of the milling
complex.
The mill got water from the Barranco del Molino.
Pictures: 20.VIII.2006; Map: Inst. Geográfico y Catastral, 1952
The water mill of Torres del Obispo is an
enormous building several storeys high hidden deep in a narrow valley.
The first thing you'll notice is the pond situated above and a bit behind the rest
of the construction. The pond is level with the recently build road (2) and
nothing gives a clue about the rest of the milling complex.
The connection between the Barranco del Molino
and the pond (embalse) is lost due to the new road. But the rest of the pond (always
indicated with blue arrow) with its walls of huge bricks converging to the saetín (inlet) is still intact (3).
Below the pond lies the harinero (corn mill, yellow arrow in 4,5 and 8)
which opens to the east. The oil mill situated a level lower still, also opens in that
direction (6, red arrow in 1 and 5).
Both harinero and aceitero are built with
their longest wall perpendicular on the axis of the main building. This
is most obvious in the aceitero (clearly visible in 7). The machinery however
is concentrated against the main building. That's were the power was.
Shown with a white arrow (1, 5, and 8) is what I think was
and electric power station. It is a rather small room resting on top of the cárcavo (7)
and through a small door connected with the aceitero at the same level.
The main entrance to the central eléctrica
is situated in the western wall. It's the only door at this side of the construction.
