MUSEUMS

INTERPRETATION CENTERS

The old La Dolores Flour Factory, founded in 1925 by Fermín Martínez and closed in 1968, was handed over by the family so that it could be restored. All of the machines had remained inside, and are in perfect condition, making it of particular interest to industrial archaeologists.

The building has two floors, and on the right of the main building is the water house. Water was used to power a large turbine that moved all the belts and gears that work the mill. It also generated energy that provided electricity to the whole region.

When the mill was opened moving from traditional stone grinding to milling the wheat by spinning rollers was seen as a huge advance. With the new system, the factory could make the most out of the wheat grain and produce higher quality flours.

The factory could also make use of the energy generated by the water turbine to power the production process, as well as supply electricity at night to the neighbouring villages by means of a dynamo.

The storehouse is to the left of the main building and must have been a busy place when the factory was open. Flours sacks were transported by rail wagons to the station platform, from where flour was distributed all over Spain. The mill was a driving force in the Region and the flour produced was even exported abroad.

To see the machinery in action, observe the whole production process and see the results of that process, is an aim of the project. There is a museum to bread-making in the store house, where visitors can:

Visit the “bread space”.

Try out different types of mills and see the different results.

See a reproduction of a threshing floor and how wheat is processed.

Make some bread.

There is also a Projection Room with an audio-visual presentation on the different tasks required to transform wheat into flour.

You can visit the Flour Mill by prior arrangement.

For information about La Dolores Flour Mill (Harinera La Dolores ), ask at Caldearenas Town Hall.