Mills on La Palma

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Las Nieves grain mill with inlet duct to drive the water turbine

The first mills on La Palma were built with sugar cane cultivation in the 16th century and were used to extract the juice from sugar cane . The water obtained from the mountains of La Palma for irrigation of sugar cane plantations was also used to power the mills. Some of the watermills still exist today, but they are no longer in operation. The hydro-powered Molino El Regente in the municipality of San Andrés y Sauces was a flour mill and has now been converted into a museum.

Where there was not enough water available, windmills were used to grind grain. Of the ten windmills that remained on the island, El Molino de Las Tricias in Garafía and El Molino de Mazo have been completely renovated, the rest are in a dilapidated state.

Hand mills

Hand mill in the El Molino de Las Tricias museum

A valuable staple food that the Canarian natives knew was gofio , which was made from ground roasted grain. Even before water and windmills were used, the roasted grain was ground in rudimentary hand mills, which consisted of two circular, porous basalt stones lying on top of each other . With a stick attached to the upper stone, this was moved to the grinding process. Even later, the hand mills were not completely abandoned and were used when there was no wind for a long time. When the far visible windmill turned again, the farmers brought their flour to the mill.

Watermills

Aridane Valley

Molino de Abajo with inlet channel and drop shaft to the water turbine in Tazacorte, wash house in the rear area

With the high-yielding sugar cane cultivation on La Palma at the beginning of the 16th century, the first water-powered mills (Molino hidráulico) were built to extract the juice from the sugar cane, which significantly increased sugar production. The necessary drive water was already available on the sugar cane plantations to irrigate the plants, for which an extensive sewer system had been installed to obtain water from the mountains.

In the large-scale sugar cane plantations of the Aridanetal, water mills were operated in Agual (part of Los Llanos de Aridane ) and in Tazacorte . In Agual there is still an imposing aqueduct that formed the inlet channel to the still existing mill.

Plaza Simón Guadalupe in Villa Tazacorte

In the early 19th century, sugar cane production declined due to depleted soils in the valley's fields and stopped in 1830 when the last mill closed. Instead, corn, potatoes, oranges and citrus fruits were planted in the irrigated fields. At the end of the 19th century, sugar cane cultivation began again in Tazacorte and Argual. For this purpose, two sugar mills were built in the El Charco district of Tazacorte. In Tazacorte, the mill channel ran on the north side of the church, where today there is still a fountain with the bust of the doctor Manuel Morales Pérez in the Plaza Simón Guadalupe . The canal led into the lower-lying district of El Charco, where there were two mills, of which only one still exists. The water from the mill channel was also used for a washing area, the building of which is located next to the existing mill.

Barranco de Las Angustias

El Molino de agua in the Barranco de Las Angustias

In the water-rich Barranco de Las Angustias there were two flour mills, El Molino del Tío Quiterio and one below the church Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Las Angustias , the El Molino de agua , which were driven by the water of the Barranco, their structures still exist today.

San Andres y Sauces

In the municipality of San Andrés y Sauces , which had become prosperous through the cultivation of sugar cane plantations, there is the Molino El Regente watermill (above the town in Calle de los Molinos 33) and the La Torna mill, which only consists of building remains .

Molino El Regente was built by Luis de Vandewalle and Quintana in 1873 , where roasted grains were ground to make gofio. The water supply to drive the turbine of the mill took place via the still existing structures of the inlet canal, aqueduct and drop tower, in the basement of which the turbine was located. The grinder was driven by a turbine drive belt. An ethnographic museum has been set up in the restored mill, which contains the grinder, the paddle wheel turbine as well as tools and utensils for the production of flour, they give an insight into the workings of the millers.

Barranco del Río

Molinos de Bellido on the Ruta del Agua

With the founding of the capital Santa Cruz de La Palma in 1493, a network of water canals was created in the Barranco del Río to supply the city. The sloping terrain above the city was a great advantage for channeling the previously free flowing water and using it for drinking water supply, irrigation of the fields and for operating flour mills. The Canaries' first hydroelectric power station, the "Eléctron", was also built here, and it supplied the city with public lighting. Santa Cruz was one of the six cities in the world that had a power supply for the first time.

The first document about the construction of the mills comes from the year 1576. Most of the mills were on the slopes of the Barrancos del Río along the water channel built in 1609 by Juan Vandewalle Vellido to supply Santa Cruz and were used for grinding grain. The owners of the mills, wealthy townspeople and nobles, rented them out to the respective millers.

In the middle of the 19th century there were 13 mills in the Barranco del Río, which was also popularly called Rio de los Molino . Today there are only four of these mills, which can be reached via stairs and a renovated path between the capital and the Las Nieves district and are known as the Ruta del Agua .

Windmills

Molino de Monte Pueblo

One of the most important mill builders in the Canary Islands was Don Isidoro Ortega Sánchez , who was born on April 4, 1843 in Santa Cruz de La Palma and died in La Gomera in 1913 . As an autodidact with training in various trades such as blacksmithing, locksmithing, carpentry and shoemaking, he was a designer and builder of windmills . Compared to the previous, massive tower mills, it simplified the mill construction through the tower construction (rotor with horizontal axis of rotation), which was also correspondingly cheaper. The construction, consisting of the up to ten meter high tower made of four columns, the rotor and the vertical shaft , was mainly made of the very solid and resinous tea wood of the Canary Islands pine , without the need for supporting masonry. A special feature of the construction was that the tower could be turned completely according to the wind. The rotor blades of the mill were provided with adjustable wooden plates instead of canvas, which could be set at different distances from the hub of the rotor depending on the wind strength.

His first windmill, El Molino de Monte Pueblo , was built by Ortega in Mazo in the years 1866–1867, who was also the owner of the flour mill. Today there is a ceramic workshop in the mill.

A year later he created his second identical windmill in Breña Alta , which became the prototype for a total of 22 windmills on La Palma and is known as the "Ortega model". The simple construction principle of the mill, the relatively low construction costs and the use of materials from the region were decisive for the spread of this type. About half of the windmills built on La Palma still existed and only a few are in a good state of preservation.

In 1873 Ortega went to Fuerteventura in order to build further mills there as well as on the other Canary Islands of Tenerife , La Gomera and Lanzarote .

El Molino de Las Tricias in Garafía from 1868 was restored in 2000 in the typical wooden construction with a 9 to 10 meter high tower. The lower end of the drive shaft is connected to the millstone via two drums and a leather drive belt, which set the millstone in rotation. In 1945, an internal combustion engine was installed in the mill, which operated until 1953, which was used when the wind power was too low. Today there is a museum in the mill, which shows the technical equipment of the mill and a 1:10 model of the mill.

  • El Molino de Las Tricias

  • Tower construction with vertical shaft in the mill building

  • Drive motor in the mill building

  • 1:10 model of the mill

  • Detail from the model of the mill

Compilation of the documented windmills:

local community Mill / current use Construction year builder State of preservation Shutdown
Villa de Mazo Molino de Monte Pueblo ( Molino de los Ortega ), the house of the Monte Pueblo family originally had a bakery, a blacksmith's shop and a shoe shop; Camino Monte de Pueblo / today ceramic workshop and small ethnographic museum 1867 Isidoro Ortega Sánchez Well
Molino de los Romeros Remnants of the mill around 1964
Molino de Malpaís de Abajo 19th century José Yanes González Remnants of the mill
Molino de Tigalate Remnants of the mill
Molino de Tirimaga ( Molino de la Familìa Perez Guerra ), was later expanded to include a motor mill 1902 Pérez Guerra Remnants of the mill
Fuencaliente Molino by Marcelino Ortega Yanes , the mill was one of the two prototypes that Isidoro Ortega Sánchez had built in Mazo and was rebuilt and operated by his son Marcelino Ortega Yanes (* 1869) in Fuencaliente; at Puerta del Viento Isidoro Ortega Sánchez destroyed
Breña Alta Molino de Viento Buenavista ( Molino de Miranda ), Camino las Palmas 1868 Isidoro Ortega Sánchez Restored in 1933, destroyed by a storm after 2 years, partially restored in 1975.
Breña Baja Molinera de Breña Baja
Molino de Marcelino Ortega 1902 1974
Garafía Molino de Las Tricias , Calle el Polvillo / Mill Museum 1868 Antonio Acosta Rodríguez Well 1953
Molino de los Bravo Carpintero , in Las Tricias Remains of the mill building
Molino de LLano Negro (first building 16th century), on the LP 112 (sign) 1907 Antonio Acosta Rodríguez Well 1974
Molino del Marcelino , Calle de Molino 1902 Well 1974
Molino del Calvario , on the LP 114 1907 Antonio González Pérez bad, but most of the mill elements are still there 1960s
Molino de Arriba ( Molino de los González ) at the time the largest sugar mill on La Palma, in Santo Domingo Remains of the mill building
Molino de Abajo ( Molino de Marcelino ) in Santa Domingo
Barlovento Molino de Cáceres in the center of Balovento destroyed
Molino de Garcia ( Molino de la Montaña ) Remains of the mill building
Molino de Gollegos
Puntagorda Molino El Roque ( Molino de Fagundo ), Camino del Molino / Information Center for Traditional Customs 1885 Acosta brothers, carpenters from Garafía most of the mill elements are still there
Molino de la Montaña de Miraflores ( Molino de Lucero-Berges ), Camino Miraflores only the foundations of the mill building
Molino del Camino de los Morritos , in El Pinar, Calle la Molina Well
Molino de lo Relvo Largo Well
Tijarafe Windmill in La Punta Isidoro Ortega Sánchez
Puntallana Molino de Santa Lucia ( Molino de Don Rosendo ) at El Masapes, Calle Masapez Early 1900 Isidoro Ortega Sánchez bad, but most of the mill elements are still there.
Molino de Vicente Hernández ( Capirote Mill ) only the surrounding walls of the mill building
Molino de la Cruz de La Pasion Remnants of the mill

Wind pump

Wind pump of the saltworks in Los Cancajos

For salt extraction in Los Cancajos , wind pumps were used which, with the help of wind power, pumped the sea water onto the higher-lying saline fields. The saltworks , which has been in operation since 1815, served as a basic element for the preservation of meat and fish for salt production.

Web links

Commons : Mills in La Palma  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Molinos de La Palma
  2. ^ A b Molinos de Bellido: Construidos en 1882
  3. ↑ CARMEN HERNÁNDEZ, Old Windmills, Landscapes of the Canary Islands
  4. ↑ a b c Tablet Museum El Molino de Las Tricias in Garafía .
  5. ↑ Salvador Gonzalez Vazquez: Historia de Tazacorte 1492 - 1975 , Ilustre Ayuntamiento de la Villa y Puerto de Tazacorte, September 2000, ISBN 84-89692-20-3 .
  6. ↑ La cultura del agua protagonizará la rehabilitación de Las Angustias
  7. ↑ a b Susanne Lipps-Breda, La Palma travel guide , DuMont travel paperback.
  8. ↑ El Regente watermill in San Andrés y Sauces, Centrum La Palma
  9. ↑ Museo “Molino Hidráulico El Regente”
  10. ^ El Molino "El Regente" , Asociación Turismo Rural Isla Bonita.
  11. ↑ a b El Barranco del Río en Santa Cruz de La Palma , Canarias7, 6th February 2017.
  12. ^ Rehabilitation of the "Ruta del Agua" path, May 9, 2014
  13. ↑ Los 'caminos' del agua tienen cinco siglos (The "streets" of the water have five centuries) , La Palma ahora, 29 March 2013.
  14. ↑ a b POGGIO CAPOTE, Manuel / LORENZO TENA, Antonio: Molinos de viento de las islas Canarias. El Sistema Ortega y sus derivados (molinas y Sistema Romero) .
  15. ^ Andreas Jungbauer, Analysis of Wind Power Plants , Diploma Thesis, Graz University of Technology, 1998 (page 15).
  16. ↑ Windmill type Ortega system , NOTICES JOURNAL, July 24, 2018.
  17. ↑ a b Manuel Poggio Capote, Antonio Lorenzo Tena, Molinos de viento de las islas Canarias. El Sistema Ortega y sus derivados (molinas y Sistema Romero) , Fundación Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
  18. ↑ a b Pasado y Futuro del Molino de Las Tricias , En Las Tricias, July 26, 2011.
  19. ↑ 23 Molinos and 15 Molinas on Fuerteventura , Parallelus Canary Islands, 2015.
  20. ^ Molino de viento de Monte Pueblo , Palmeros-en-el-mundo, September 7, 2015.
  21. ^ Molino de Buenavista , Palmeros-en-el-mundo, September 7, 2015.
  22. ↑ Molino de Llano Negro , Palmeros-en-el-mundo, September 8, 2015.
  23. ↑ Molino de Marcelino , Palmeros-en-el-mundo, September 8, 2015.
  24. ↑ Molino del Calvario , Palmeros-en-el-mundo, September 8, 2015.
  25. ↑ Molino de Don Rosendo , Palmeros-en-el-mundo, September 7, 2015.
  26. ↑ Cancajos Salt Pans , La Palma island, December 13, 2018.