The Casa Grande, the Town Hall of Archena

The Casa Grande in Archena has been adapted various times since it was built by the Order of San Juan in the 15^th century

Nowadays the Casa Grande in Archena is home to the Town Hall, and is used purely for administrative purposes, but it has had many varied uses during the centuries which have passed since it was first built.

Following the Reconquista of the territory of Murcia from the Moors in the 13th century the “villa de Archena” was entrusted for its administration to the military and religious Order of San Juan as a gesture of gratitude for the help they had provided in ousting the Muslims from the area. Part of this administration consisted of the levying of strict taxes and tithes on the local population, and by the 15^th century the amount of agricultural produce and money being collected in this way was so great that the Order needed a large central building for paperwork to be carried out and to store the goods received. (see History of Archena)

Similar buildings possessing the same air of power and grandeur exist in many towns in the Region of Murcia, for example Abanilla and Calasparra, all of them built by the Orders who ruled over them in feudal style, in many cases (as in that of Archena) until the mid-19^th century.

In Archena as elsewhere the fact that these buildings were fundamentally the headquarters of large and powerful economic concerns is reflected in the sober and austere style of their design and construction. In part they functioned as grain stores, so dark rooms and relatively constant temperatures were desirable, and this determines the simple square floor plan, although more windows were added later.

In the 18^th century the Order of San Juan sold the Casa Grande to the Llamas family from Ricote, who converted it into a grand residence, and in the 20^th century its prestigious appearance was augmented by the addition of the main balcony. As it stands today, the most eye-catching features are the overhanging roof, the wrought ironwork on the windows and doors, and the central turret, from where it is possible to look out over the town and towards the mountain known as the Ope.

The Casa Grande was again used for the purpose of local administration in the early 19^th century after the building which was previously used for meetings of council was destroyed by an explosion. The Llamas family allowed the council to re-locate the municipal archive to their place of residence and to meet there, but from 1836 the Town Hall was located in other rental properties until the council finally took over the Casa Grande in the last years of the millennium following a refurbishment project in 1998.

Despite the work carried out during this refurbishment, no evidence has been found to support the local legend that a secret tunnel was built by the Order of San Juan in order to be able to escape from the building if it were ever necessary!

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