Interesting places / Mill of San Miguel de Oñate

City: Oñati

The mill of San Miguel de Oñate manor belonged to the monastery complex of San Miguel, on which lay their employers, the Counts of Oñate, possessed the right of collecting tithes. They possessed in the fifteenth century, at least three mills located in the valley, those of Olalde (sold to another powerful local family: the Lazarraga) Linazibar and San Miguel, the two last mentioned documentary for the first time in 1440 and 1432 respectively.

 At San Miguel mill were required to go to grind the peasants of Mr. and that they had their land and houses on land owned by the monastery. This right manor placed a heavy burden for farmers, so they tried to cope with either disobeying or litigating against him. In this case, the first lawsuit against being forced to grind in County facilities dates back to 1482, reopening in succession in 1583, 1627, 1658 and 1741. The last agreement between farmers and the Count for this reason linked to the right that had the counts of receiving the tithe, as patrons who were of the church.

 Throughout the nineteenth century the mill continued to work ever more precarious and not so noble but as private property of the counts. In 1899 no longer ranked in the registration industry, which suggests that it had stopped working but still maintaining its hydraulic structure, so that could be used for other types of industry. The use of water flowing through the channel of San Miguel in the final years of the eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century when passing through areas inhabited houses and gardens, caused inconvenience and difficulties, but also uses. The nuns of Santa Ana, for example, used the canal in his garden, which they derived no small benefit, but sometimes they also brought some problems, such as that suffered flooding in 1773 to block the channel and flood waters on the building of the convent. Another odd use of the waters of San Miguel mill was to be used to feed one? Bathhouse? in Lekunbarri. It worked in the mid-nineteenth century, notably in 1859 with an installation of three baths.

 In 1905 the nuns of the Convent of Santa Ana bought the mill Gordoa San Miguel and Juan Perea, who had bought a few months before the authorized agent of the Countess de Onate. Between 1923 and 1926 major renovations were made on the runway and a new turbine was installed and in 1929 the old mill of San Miguel was working as? Carpentry, sawmill?. In this they did but follow the same path that many other mills in the early decades of the twentieth century used their hydraulic structure to become small saw mills or power plants. Initially, the saw worked exclusively with hydro, then supplemented with electricity. The turbine water stopped working in 1960. In 1983 the City Council purchased the old mill Oñati San Miguel to the convent of the nuns of Santa Ana and in 1997 it was demolished to build an apartment building, whose ground floor remained the archaeological remains left from the milling operation.

 The mill-museum of San Miguel kept original features, has incorporated parts of other places, and to complete the whole has made some new models according to different sources.

 Original features should be emphasized as the location and the overall structure of wit: the? Aldape? or deposit collected for water to move the mill remains, although the channel or channel driver has disappeared. Remains visible, although be heading use has been made, the last stone flour mill that was used in the mill.

 The stones for grinding corn and iron turbine, as well as those for wheat, and also the box to change the stones come from Narbaizabolu-Goikoa of Bergara. The turbine of wood, which was broken in that mill, was rebuilt in beech wood, as a replica of the original.

 As for the hoppers or boxes, in the form of an inverted cone, where the grain is thrown to the rocks to fall into flour, have been made taking as model the mill-Goikoa Lastur of Lastur, Deba.

 To that you can see the whole process of milling, have been deprived of one of the games molederas stones of the corresponding box that covers them. It is also the operation of the turbines, driven by water, activate the axes and giraderas stones to grind grain.



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Photo of Mill of San Miguel de Oñate

Molino San Miguel 1 Molino San Miguel 2 Molino San Miguel 3