Fernando López Miras, the president of the regional government of Murcia, visited the city of Lorca on Tuesday evening to officially open the new Casa del Artesano, a home and outlet for craftsmen and women and artisans in the south-west of the Region.
The new centre is located in the old “Pósito” building, one of the historic structures clustered around the Plaza del Caño and the Plaza de España in the centre of Lorca. The Pósito de los Panaderos, to give it its full name, dates from the centuries when the supply of food to the population was strictly governed and administered by the local authorities, and was originally used to store and distribute cereals, a function it fulfilled until well into the 20th century, making sure that supplies were available during periods of drought and starvation, and establishing fixed prices. It stands on the foundations of the old city wall, between the gate of Puerta de los Santos and the tower which still stands in Calle Rojano, and although it is a strong and imposing structure almost the only decoration on the façade consists of three important emblems.
Two of these are reproductions of both sides of the seal of the Concejo, the council which in the past performed the roles of local government in Lorca, and between them is the imperial coat of arms of Carlos I of Spain, representing the close ties during the Late Middle Ages between the Crown and the city of Lorca. All three are Items of Cultural Interest and were added in 1553, at which point the cereals were stored upstairs while the ground floor contained tables on which meat and bread were sold to the inhabitants of Lorca every day.
Decades after it had fallen into disuse the Pósito was transformed into the municipal historical archive of Lorca, but now it has been transformed into a centre for the promotion, exhibition and sale of artisan products as the official home of the Asociación de Artesanos de Lorca (Artelor).
This year the regional government’s budget includes an amount of 820,000 euros for the artisans of Murcia, while the reforms of the Pósito in Lorca have been carried out at a cost of over 255,000 euros. Included within this investment have been repairs to damage caused by the earthquakes of May 2011 and work to make the remains of the old 12th century bell tower underneath visible: this tower was created while the Moors still ruled in what is now the Region of Murcia, and was a part of the city wall at the time.
Inside a wide range of crafts are represented, from textiles to pottery, leatherwork, gastronomy and sculpture, although José Ortuño, the president of Artelor, laments the fact that some old crafts have disappeared from the area, such as glass blowing and goldsmithing. At present there are 143 artisans officially registered in Lorca, 16 of them individually and the remainder within 21 local companies.
For more local news, visiting information and forthcoming events go to the home page of Lorca Today.
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