The windmills

in Murcia region ….

This is Region of Murcia

Here is Torre Pacheco.

Torre Pacheco is a Spanish municipality in Region of Murcia.

The earliest reference to windmills dates back as far as the

early 1300’s, when their main use was the grinding of flour.

The campo de Cartagena area has been a land of windmills for more than six centuries.

The winds that blow across the area were used by the windmills or ‘molinos’ to create energy.

Mills were a vital component of an agricultural tradition, being used for two main functions:

- to draw water up from the ground and pump it through the irrigation system

- to grind wheat and produce flour.

The tipical windmill of “Campo de Cartagena” is the Mediterranean type with a tower, a horizontal axle with four pairs of wooden arms.

La Mancha windmill, don Quixote mills, has four rectangular arms.

The Mediterranean windmill has Latin sails (triangular sails), normally 8.

La Mancha windmills

- What is a windmill?

• It is a machine that uses wind as an energy source.

- to draw water up from the ground and pump it through the irrigation system

- to grind wheat and produce flour.

Mills

Wind strength

in the service of man

Harquebus mill Flour mill

Main parts mill

The wind blows the sails and that move the machine.

The machinery is placed on a round tower and it can be oriented to the wind.

Here we can see a ruined tower with some rest of machinery.

Details of machinery

It is the wooden structuremachinery of the mill as a cover.

CHAPITEL

Chapitel

El Pasico windmill

Torre Pacheco

Windmill stones

Stick guide

We can move the chapitel and machinery to trim sails to

the wind

Carrete to move stick guide

Stick guideCarrete

The winds that move the wind mills are called:

"lebeches", "jaloque“, "maestral“ or “levante”

Sailing mills is an adaptation of the latin sails ships in the Mediterranean for use in the mills.

Modifying its appearance increases the number of sticks, adapting them to the sails, assuming marine terminology,

and adding versatility to the characteristics of the prevailing winds of the Mediterranean.

Latin sail

or

triangular sail

MAESTR

AL LEV

AN

TE

LEBECHEJA

LOQ

UE

Winds

in Cartagena area.

North

East

South

West

Watermill (waterwheel)

wheel

Molino de arcaduces Most widespread type of mill in the region of the Campo de Cartagena.

This watermill (waterwheel) can be typically characterised for the waterwheel.

Attached to a tower that turns to extract water from the depths of the subsoil.

Harquebus (Alcabuces)

Reservoir water next to the windmill

Very useful for the extraction of groundwater.

Watermill

The first documentary evidence that shows the existence of windmills in the Torre Pacheco area dates back to 1755.

Nowadays, Torre Pacheco still has 14 windmills.

Four of which are in perfect state thanks to recent restorations.

Some of the mills without restorationIsidoro el Zorro

windmill

Lo Ferro windmillLa Pedrera windmill

Paquillo

windmill Pereas windmill

Ulloa waterwheel windmill

Los Pereas windmill

Santa Rosalía

El Jimenado windmill

El Pasico windmill

Torre Pacheco

Los Pereas windmill - Santa Rosalía

Unrestored - Restored

Push on the image