Casa de la Tercia, Alhama de Murcia

The former tithe collection building was one of the most important structures in Alhama de Murcia

Click to read a full background history of the Alhama de Murcia municipality.

The Casa de la Tercia is the former grain store building built by the Marquises de los Vélez in the 18th century, the coat of arms which can still be viewed today specifically dating it to 1755. It is called the "house of one third", because this is the proportion taken by the landlord of the total harvest collected by the townspeople, who also had to pay another third to the church: they were left with very little for themselves after the heavy tithes imposed on them by the rich and powerful!

During the first half of the 18th century there were several episodes of famine throughout Spain caused by a number of circumstances, amongst them the lack of road infrastructures to facilitate the movement of grain to the smaller communities. The larger cities thus received the bulk of food produced, and in 1751 the "Superintendencia General de Pósitos" was created with the aim of ensuring that smaller, outlying communities had a means of storing enough grain to see the local population through weather-related disaster, famine and pestilence. Ultimately this was designed to guarantee the stability of the population and prevent the mass migration of the hungry searching for food.

Although undertaken initially with the best interests of the population at heart, the Pósitos were, however, owned by the rich and powerful, so the system did little other than make the rich richer.

In the 19^th century the Casa de la Tercia was remodelled to serve as a place of celebrations and social activity, then served as a school for dramatic representations during the first part of the 20^th century until becoming a prison during the Civil War.

The coat of arms which can be seen on the outside of the building belong to the 10th Marqués de los Vélez, Antonio Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio Pérez de Guzmán. 

The Casa de la Tercia is located at the end of Calle Angosta.

The Casa de la Tercia is one of the stopping-off points of the FREE ENGLISH language audiotour offered by the municipal tourist office (also provides street maps, leaflets etc) which can be followed by visitors at their leisure. Click for full information

For more local information in English, including news, what to visit and forthcoming events, visit the English language information page Alhama Today.