Human beings have eaten wheat flour since the Neolithic ages. The tool that allowed him to obtain this flour was the hand mill or the traversing mill.

The hand mill evolved to become the rotary mill that consisted in two flat circular slabs placed on top of each other that milled the kernel by the friction produced by the upper slab rotating on the lower one.

The manual rotary mill evolved in terms of its dimensions, structure and operating mechanisms. Depending on the source of energy they used, the mills were called: blood mills, windmills, hydraulic mills or fire mills.

The factory has had different names over the years: La Confianza, La Mercedes and Compañía Harinera de Castellón de Ampúrias, S.A. This plaque commemorates that the company, whose founders were Mr Enrique Chantier Batlle, from Pont de Molins, and Mr Mario Godó Riera, from Castelló d’Empúries, was founded in July 1920. The latter was the grandson of Francisco Godó i Ballesta, a trader from Cadaqués who purchased the mill and turned it into a flour factory.

Although they may look alike to us, each machine has different functions: some cylinders grind the wheat, some break it down, and others press the meal.

The mills have four cylinders that allow two batches of wheat to be ground independently. The wheat is placed in the top, and a set of two parallel rollers work to ensure the wheat falls evenly between the two grinding cylinders. These cylinders move in opposite directions and at different speeds, which means that the slowest cylinder holds the wheat in place while the faster cylinder grinds it.

The resulting product is collected at the bottom, via a lifting bucket that is sent to the "pansichters", which then separate out the flour.

The turbine transforms the kinetic energy of the water into mechanical energy, which is then transmitted through a system of wheels, belts and pulleys. The level of efficiency of a turbine is much higher than the hydraulic wheels, which were used previously.

Francis turbines are reaction turbines, often used for waterfalls and mid-level fows of water.

Wheat is one of the most important cereals in global agricultural economy. The two main types are durum wheat, used mainly to make pasta; and soft wheat, which is mainly used to produce bread-making flour.

Composition of wheat:

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• Proteins: 12-13%
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• Sugar: 2-3%
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• Starch: 61-72%
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• Lipids: 1,8-2,5%
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• Minerals: 1,8-2,2%
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• Vitamins: 0,37%
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• Fibre: 2-3,5%
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Before then, the bags the flour was stored in were made of cotton and were reused. When they got torn, they had to be sewn up again. This sewing machine was the one used to darn the bags. It was the only task at the factory in which women took part; they came to the Farinera (flour mill) to sew the bags and were paid by the hour.

In a flour factory, the production process circulates in a vertical fashion from one floor to another. The product is elevated using a belt bucket elevator and descends through inclined wooden conducts, constantly going up and down. The construction of this tube system involved a precise calculation of the inclination of each of them.

The belt bucket elevator consists of two vertical boxes that are joined at the top and bottom with a pulley, through which a belt passes equipped with buckets, allowing the wheat and other products to be lifted.

Once the wheat’s germ is eliminated at the grain scouring machine, the wheat is transported to sprinkler where it is wet, in such a way that it reaches the conditioning storeroom with a maximum humidity of 15%. If it is stored under conditions of excessive humidity, it could ferment and would longer be suitable for making flour.

A balanced flour cannot be made with a single variety of wheat. A mixture of different varieties in certain proportions enables us to obtain the type of flour we wish to make, one which is suitable for one product or another, such as bread, pastries, pizzas, and so on. To make a good mixture, we have to understand the characteristics of the different varieties of wheat that arrive at the flour mill. This is why we need to obtain analyses of the different types of wheat, according to the information we’re interested in obtaining. At the Farinera (flour mill), we can perform a very simple analysis by using the Pelshenke Index, which enables us to get an idea of the quality of the wheat.

They sieve the flour and imitate the action of a hand sieve. Each one of the boxes in the "Plansichter" is divided into four channels, which are different sizes to separate the different sized products and send each to the corresponding machine.

In 1880, the German Haggemacher patented this sieving machine, called a "Plansichter", which was used to imitate a manual sieve, and saw a significant improvement in the quality of the flour.

Air is very important in the Austo-Hungarian system.

The air is created by four vacuums. In the grinding section it is used to keep the mill cool, and so that the sieve can keep separating the flour from the semolina. The air blows the flour particles, which are then collected by the hoses and directed back into the "plansichters". This means that as little flour as possible is lost.

The Rec del Molí or Mill Canal runs about five kilometres from the lock in Vilanova de la Muga to the flour mill. Along this route, the canal passes orchards, fields and fenced-in pastureland over a changing and striking landscape that becomes exceptional when the canal flows past Castelló d’Empúries and uses the old moat of the mediaeval wall to channel the water to the pond at the flour mill.

The water from the Rec del Molí is used to irrigate the surrounding fields and orchards. This is performed by means of boixes, small structures equipped with gates.

Upon reaching the flour mill, the falling water allows the turbine to generate sufficient mechanical energy to operate the entire factory.

Upon leaving the flour mill, the water is pumped and driven to a water treatment plant that makes it suitable for human consumption.

Many years ago, the water from the Rec del Molí also fed a drinking trough, the municipal slaughterhouse and the public laundry.

Finally, the water from the canal is channelled to the Vilaüt ponds, part of Integral Reserve I of the Aiguamolls de l’Empordà Natural Park.

It is part of the cleaning section on the first floor. It is made of a slightly tilted table, which moves in a swinging motion. The table has a series of channels with triangular obstacles where the flour is distributed evenly. Through a combination of the movement, tilting and obstacles, the wheat, which weighs less, goes out on one side, while the heavier stones are collected on the other side.

One characteristic of the territory between the mouths of the Muga and Fluvià rivers is that it forms an area of transition between the farmland and the sea. An area where saline lands, salt marshes and fenced-in pasturelands alternate with small salt ponds known as llaunes.  

Since the 11th century, the extensive uncultivated land in this area has been transformed as the water has drained away. This process intensified in the 17th century, the starting point for an intensive agricultural anthropisation process that was only altered by the advent of tourism in the nineteen sixties.

When the land was reclaimed from the water, farmers arrived and the cortal were built, becoming a hallmark of this area of the Empordà coastline. The cortal could be described as a type of agricultural holding with very particular building characteristics which, together with the fenced-in pasturelands, shape a singular and distinctive landscape.

The fenced-in pasturelands (meadows surrounded by run-off canals where the grazing livestock were kept) have become an element that characterise the damp terrain. As they occupy the beds of the old ponds, they are flooded in the rainy seasons.