Mills in Alto Aragón - aceitero
Juseü
Juseü is a small village in the
Ribagorza region. Juseü is
easily reached from Graus, or Barbastro. From both cities, take the main road N-123 towards the East, to Benabarre.
Leave the N-123 in Torres del Obispo, where Juseu and the N-123a towards Graus are indicated.
Follow the narrow road to the South and Juseü which you will reach after about 5 km. Find a space for your vehicle and
walk the GR-18 towards the West, to Aguinalíu. You will soon recognize the sight of (1) and maybe the information panel of (5).
Pictures: 21.x.2015
At the time f our visit here wasn't much left of the mill. It proved impossible for me
to determine where exactly the building with the oil extraction equipment must have been. Even a thorough examination of old aerial photographs didn't help.
We were close though, because on a small piece of flat ground we discovered a heap of old wood that
turned out to be beams of the old press (2, 3). The mill of Juseü was equipped with one of those huge cantilever presses of old.
†
Among the remains the virgenes —the vertical beams of the press—, the tuerca —a wooden
block with a hole for the screw —, and trabones
—short beams with a handle used to manage the cantilever— could be recognized. There was also an old ruello, a mashing stone (4), lying around.
At the foot of the hill, just outside the village, an information panel (5) boosted all the things to
see and to do in the village and its surroundings. It shows a photo of two upright beams, that may have been part of a (the?) cantilever press, but
I am not sure because the slits appear to be on the wrong side. Apart from two drawings there is no further explanation of the business of oil pressing.
