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

(4) Only the roof level is visible from the road
(5) Position of corn mill (yellow arrow)

The corn mill (harinero, yellow arrow) is situated just below the pond (blue arrow). The work place is one spacious room below a huge arch orientated east to west.

The entrance is in the eastern wall (4) which has almost enterily fallen down. There is a window (and a gaping hole) in the western wall (9). Several small insulators prove that the harinero was wired, probably only to light the room, not for any engine.

You don't need to enter to get a good overview of the room (9). Two couples of mill stones are mounted against the southern wall whereas the watersupply lies north from the mill (4). There is no trace of any tube inside of the mill. The water therefore must be lead down between the pond and the northern wall of the molino (the section with ivy in pict. 4).

Apart from the stones only the remains of the tolvas (10) are present.

(9) Harinero seen from the entrance
(10) Harinero looking back at the entrance

(11) Modern composed runner
(12) Older stone

The stones inside are modern composed stones (11). Outside, on the slope leading to the entrance (5), two halves of older runner stones were found. One of them is made of pudding stone and shows the usual many shallow furrows (12). The second find (11) looks weird: erosion was much less at one side and the furrows are very irregularly spaced.
A window in the southern wall (left before the stones in pict. 9) gives a view on the aceitero. The white arrow is pointing to the entrance, the red arrow points to the conical! grinding stones.

(13) Older mill stone from puddingstone
(14) Aceitero seen from the corn mill

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