Museum
of the Flour
Industry
The Museum of the Flour Industry of Castilla y Leon (MIHACALE) is located in Gordoncillo (Leon), at the N-W end of the Tierra de Campos region, 1 hour away by road from 4 of its provincial capitals: León, Valladolid, Palencia or Zamora.
Museum
YEARS OF HISTORYThe museum is housed in a former industrial complex which mesures over 3,000 square metres, and was in operation from the 1930s to the 1960s. Owned by the García-Luengos Alonso family, it also gave a job to about fifteen workers and boosted Gordoncillo’s economic activity during the post-war period.
Its headquarter was the Flour Mill “Marina Luz”, operative until the end of 1935. The present industrial building is result of a refurbishment made in 1944 after a fire destroyed the previous one. The flour mill has got three floors where many machines – mostly Swiss – are displayed. They used to carry out dynamic processes of cleaning, milling and sifting, completely transforming the good wheat of Gordoncillo into bread flour.
Currently the Flour Mill “Marina Luz” belongs to Gordoncillo Town Hall andhas been restored for cultural and tourist purposes. Thus, this old flour mill allows visitors to enjoy remains of its industrial heritage, machines and tools, remember yesteryear hard work as well as know about the operation of the factory and those with a starring role.
The guided visits to MIHACALE are aimed at all publics, arousing interest in a processing activity that joins both cereal agriculture and the baking of bread. Being, likewise, its central focal point the careful production of flour – a basic ingredient for human nutrition about which we can discover all its secrets.
