Museo de los Molinos del Rio – Murcia, province of Murcia, Spain

This museum, funded by the Municipality of the city of Murcia, offers a fine collection of artefacts related to the history of hydraulic mills located along the Segura River which flows through the city. 

At least two of the mills date back to the Moorish occupation.  The museum offers a comprehensive and well preserved collection that includes an original Arab water wheel, the Ñora. During the Medieval age mills were used in the production of flour, and amongst other things, the extraction of groundwater, as well as the production of energy.  In more contemporary times the mills were used in the production of paprika.  El Museo de los Molinos del Rio houses a tangible expression of the footprint of Islam in this particular region of south eastern Spain, its impact on agricultural practices, and the production of food.

Photos © Museo de los Molinos del Rio