At the Ordinary Plenary held yesterday, the request to the Historical Heritage Service of the Autonomous Community was approved unanimously by all political parties, the opening of the declaration procedure of the Clock Tower of Bullas as a cultural asset, with a category of monument , and define its related movable property and the protection environment of the monument.
The Clock Tower, also called Santiago, for being inaugurated on the day of its holiday on July 25, 1900, was fully paid by Don Joaquín Carreño Góngora, mayor of the municipality at that time, on the occasion of the breakage of the clock the tower of the Church of the Rosary, and the economic impossibility of being able to fix it immediately.
This is the testimony of a way of life, today lost, in which the rhythm of the bells marked the future of daily life, the rhythms of work, the irrigation runs, and issued social messages of great importance for a society as a priority rural.
Building of square plant and sixteen meters high, to its bell tower, it is ascended by a staircase of sixty-seven steps and ends in the chamber where the machinery of the clock is located inside a wooden box.
From this chamber you can access the terrace on which the bell tower is located, four meters high, where three bells are placed one above the other, each dedicated to a different time: hours, means and rooms.
The Bullas Clock Tower is crowning one of the two hills on which the old town of Bullas sits, specifically at the highest altitude, at 652 meters above sea level, and next to the tower of the Rosario Church that dominates the hill remaining, at 647 meters above sea level, make up the characteristic cultural landscape of the north and west of the town, formed by the old town surrounded by its traditional crops.
Currently it is already protected by Law 4/2007 on Cultural Heritage, with a declaration of Good Cataloged for its Cultural Relevance.
The justification of the declaration as a Property of Cultural Interest would be given by applying the criteria for the valuation of cultural property of the Region of Murcia, specifically those of uniqueness, authenticity, integrity, architectural interest, typological interest, conservation status and interest as a milestone in The urban environment.
A close example of the Clock Tower declared of cultural interest, with a category of monument, we have it in the neighboring town of Mula.
The increase in assets belonging to the cultural heritage of the Region of Murcia in the most relevant and outstanding category covered by Law 4/2007, would guarantee the conservation and promotion of the enrichment of the historical and artistic heritage of the municipality of Bullas, contributing along with the rest from its heritage to the revitalization of the local and regional economy.
So far, the municipality of Bullas has six real estate assets, four of them in the category of monument: the Fortress of El Castellar, the Castle of Bullas, the Church of the Rosary, the Palace of Fuente Higuera;
one in the category of archaeological zone: Los Cantos;
and one in the category of ethnographic place of interest: the Molino de Arriba.
Likewise, it has a good of movable cultural interest: the Four Statues-Fountain of the Villa de Los Cantos, which are exhibited in the Bullas Wine Museum;
and every year with the traditional Auroros Meeting that takes place in the district of La Copa de Bullas, a good of intangible cultural interest is kept alive: the Murcia Murciana.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Bullas