Industrial routes in Riópar

Industrial routes in Riópar: Art, Industry and Nature

Riópar works today in recovering his valuable mining and industrial heritage left alone for a long time, and also in the promotion of cultural tourism. Riópar's Tourism Office is in the heart of the industrial complex  the Museum ofthe Royal Factories of San Juan de Alcaraz. This peculiar industrial museum was developed to protect and value the traces of our technological heritage and to preserve the working class memories in its different scopes. An important brass and bronze art collection is kept, together with molds and machinery that dated back the 19th and 20th centuries.

It is a land-opened  Museum: From there it's possible to get information and start a tour with or without a guide (previously booked) through the most emblematic places of the industrial colony. The routes can be redesigned to adapt to the profile of the users, being possible to do them by foot, by bicycle or even by horse. The joy is guaranteed by the kind beauty of the urban natural surroundings of the complex of San Juan, heart of the “new Riópar” and its valley. It takes its name from the original town, Riópar Viejo, that became uninhabited after the opening of the brass factory. Another must see is precisely Riópar Viejo, since the view from the romantic cemetery by the ruins of the Medieval castle there is one of the best of the area. The "Calar del Mundo" is also unmissable, the "Padrones" of Bienservida and Riópar and even the top of the "Almenara" (the highest mountain in the area), that serves as frame for rock of Riópar Viejo.

 Next there are two open routes within the historical complex of the Metal Factory of Riópar. Together, there are more than 22,700 square metres built among all the workshops, factories, warehouses,…A first route along the complex covers 10 kilometres, settled around the HYDRAULIC MILLRACE (that made the machinery of the factories work, even if the workshops were spread all over the territory) and the second route it's the one through the MINES that gave origin to the Factory.

1.  Route of the "Caz" (Hydraulic Millrace)


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This route is linked to a water channel. This structure made the machines move, but it also brought the home grown vegetable lands (that belonged to people from Riópar) to life. This route allows us to experience the territorial dimension of the brass factories.

The "Cortés" millrace was a great idea of the man who is considered the first civil engineer in Spain. Agustín de Larramendi was decided to gather the water of the small streams  by the north mountain of Riópar, and to channel it and so take advantage of the stepped rafts system that Graubner started.The dependency of the seasonal fluctuations of the rivers and streams was then overcome, being supplied with a more or less constant hydraulic volume. This channelling meant a structural change on the manufacturing set, being some of this nexus relocated for a more effective operation. In the years 40-50 of the 20th century the channelling system was improved and the millrace gave move to the six hydroelectric mini-power stations that allowed the power autonomy of "Fábricas de Riópar" (the factory).

The route is structured in six sections, connecting diverse productive enclaves:

1.      The beginning section starts in the source of “Toma del Agua” whose name is very illustrative. It's the longest section, about 3 km, calmed and with little unevenness. A stroll between pines and poplars, together with the sound by the water and breath taking views. Approximately one kilometer before the arrival to the most urban area, the footpath becomes straight and stable, adapted to everybody's use. It is a small route protected with wood railings with no difficulty. Throughout this section, several floodgates scatter the drains. Larramendi thought about avoiding conflicts between those who made their living on the factories and those that did on their land, establishing a rule of turn taking for using the water.

2.      We come to a small stone aqueduct, with a floodgate at the end. We have finished the section of "Caz Cortés" that gathers the water from the mountain.  Now, a small and steep footpath halfway between the mountain sprinkled with "cortijos" (houses int the forest) and the village. We arrive to the "Central" and "Balsa del Gollizo" (a raft in by the Gollizo stream, and the only one that is kept from the days) one of the most powerful landscapes of all the route. It is worth having a break over here.

3.     We keep going down the hill and following the course of the water, guided by the aqueduct which is nowadays made of concrete. We can either continue the road until the old smelting house of San Rafael, or walk in parallel to the aqueduct to discover,  next to the "Gollizo" stream , the New power central station. We leave to our right the old wind Mill. The arrival to San Rafael would have to welcome us with two great rafts of regulation that are currently flooded. We can see the floodgate still  and the canal with the stone aqueduct that fed once again another mini Hydroelectric power station.

 4.      From San Rafael,  we have two alternatives: We can cross the Gollizo stream and take the narrow and blurred path to the place that occupied the old "Balsa de Varetas" (Vareta's raft), until we get to the "Central de Grifos". Or, if a more urban landscape is what you feel like, you can take the "Paseo del Prado"( a troll that goes through the street of the same name) until we see the precious building of San Juan (House of the Management and Church) that nowadays is a store and a restaurant. From there, through San Vicente street we get to the "Central de Grifos" (San Pablo's sawmill).

5.      The water used to get from "Grifos" through an underground channel to the raft of San Carlos that is currently covered on sand. Now it's a good time to visit the Museum, within San Carlos' building and also to look at the fifth turbine of the industrial complex which takes the water from the raft through an impressive rubblework aqueduct.

6.      From this point, we have route left by the town centre in which the track of the millrace seems get lost and vanish, passing through Alicante street and arriving at the "Valencianos" fountain, where we can take a little rest. There is only one small slope left to discover the last one of the power stations, San Luis, in which at the end of the 18th century XVIII there was a copper drop hammer.   The water that left San Luis traveled through a water-drainage towards "La Vega" river. If the traveller still up for it, he/she can go down towards the mines following the river.

2. Route of the Mines


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The main reason for the establishment of the Factories in Riópar was the existence on the mountain slope by "Calar del Mundo" of the only known  calamine mine (from where zinc is extracted) in Spain at the end of the 18th century. The old enclave of San Jorge was located in both sides of "Río Mundo" (the river) and close by the mine of the same name, approximately about 5 km far from the factories of San Juan (currently the historical center of Riópar) towards "Elche de la Sierra" (another neary village). 

The remainings of the manufacturing set are at present within the "Parque Natural de los Calares del Mundo y de la Sima" (Natural Park of the high hills of Mundo river and Sima), and the speed to which these remainings are getting ruined is very high. At the beginning of the 19th century this enclave was much more dry, due to the cutting of trees which were used at workshops. Nowadays all the area is covered on rich vegetation, mainly pine groves, which means an environmental and landscaping wealth that makes of this route a delight for the traveller.

The facilities were formed by at least three industrial buildings, whose walls still remain and where you can still see the industrial construction covered in saw of the old times. Here there was a copper drop hammer, and the  melting pot factory. We know that there was a group of houses for the workers by old photographies and planes  similar to those of the working village of "El Laminador", dating from 1838. From the several furnaces there was there, it is only one left in good condition (from mineral calcination) that you can find on the way.

workers housing in
"El Laminador" village
 (the rolling mill)

There is a path that starts behind the prey of "El Laminador" (the rolling mill) and crosses the river ("Mundo") and even gets to San Jorge if you walk fast in about 15 minutes. From there it's possible to walk down the river for about 40 minutes to San Agustín, which is another one of the manufacturing centers, near "Rosita" mine. There are remainings of a building that was used for lodging and as warehouse, and some fo those seem to belong to pens for animals. At the moment this area is lacking bridges and signposting on footpaths although the adjustment process has already  been promoted.

It is VERY IMPORTANT to know that thera are some risks for the visitors, due to the presence of wells and holes so it is neccessary to take safety into account and if possible doing the routes with proffesional guides who know their ways. You can ask at the Tourism Office for information and bookings. The vegetation is also very dense in the forest, so one can easily get lost. Nowadays the mines are not open to the public due to wall detachment risk caused by the water cycle inside the "Calar".

           [Map: Clic on the image to enlarge]