Real Casa de la Munición y la Moneda

The Real Casa de la Munición y la Moneda (18th century) was built in 1759 during the reign of Charles III. It is located on one side of the Town Hall square in Linares, between the Calle Santiago and Calle Francos. It had reverberatory furnaces for the manufacture of ammunition and coins. During the War of Independence it supplied the guerrilla fighters with ammunition which was smuggled out in bales of firewood. It housed the mines inspection offices and some time later the offices of the Arrayanes mine. It currently houses the offices of the Administration of Economy and Treasury.

The building consists of two trapezoidal volumes, linked by a courtyard, with former facilities and storerooms in the right wing. It has two façades with different treatments and textures. The elevation of the main one, opening onto the Town Hall, offers two volumes. The one which is outstanding for its great ornamental wealth, corresponds to the wall with access to the courtyard from the square, has three doors and is covered with dressed ashlars. The two side doors have a curved arch and the central door has a semi-circular arch. At the top there is a balustrade decorated with pinnacles, adorned with the coat of arms of Charles III and above it, a crowned mosaic with a triangular gable, with the image of Santa Bárbara, the patron saint of miners.

The other, higher, part of the façade has great symmetry in the composition of its bay openings, and is made with opus isodomom bonding in worked masonry, it continues in the secondary façade which gives onto the Avenida de Andalucía, repeating the plan and elevation of the main one, although modifying the number of openings.