Museo dos Muíños de Acea de Ama

About the museum

The tide mills of Acea de Ama are considered the oldest complex of this type in Galicia. They were built by the monastery of Sobrado in the 12th century and operated for more than eight hundred years. They bear witness to the economic splendour the area enjoyed in the Middle Ages, when O Burgo de Faro came to carry more weight than the city of A Coruña itself.

The mills used the water that, as the tide rose, was held back by a dam; channelled, it drove the mechanism formed by the rodicios (paddle wheels), the shaft and the millstone. Unlike windmills and river mills, the regularity of the tides guaranteed their operation every day of the year. For the feudal and ecclesiastical nobility, owning mills of this scale was a way of controlling the peasants, who had to pay high fees for their use. The records show an increase in activity after 1492, owing to the supply of ships setting out for the Indies.

In the 19th century steam replaced water power and a large chimney was added to the building. In the 20th century the owner of the mills, Andrés Pan Camino, a former mayor of Culleredo, tried to start a flour factory nearby; its facilities are today the municipal multi-service building (Servicios Múltiples).

The complex is municipally owned and operates as a museum that explains how these mills worked. Together with the exhibition room dedicated to the local sculptor Xosé Rey Lago, it forms one of the most important spaces of cultural and ethnographic interest in the comarca.

Highlights

• Oldest complex of tide mills in Galicia, from the 12th century
• Explanation of how the tide mills worked
• 19th-century chimney from the steam era
• Exhibition room dedicated to the sculptor Xosé Rey Lago
• Setting of the O Burgo estuary

Permanent exhibitions

• Molinos de marea de Acea de Ama – Museum that helps visitors understand how the tide mills worked, with their dam system, rodicios, shaft and millstone.
• Sala Xosé Rey Lago – Exhibition room dedicated to the local sculptor Xosé Rey Lago.

Operated by

Concello de Culleredo

Admission & discounts

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Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

The mills are in O Burgo, beside the estuary, in a natural setting with walking routes.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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