El Pobal Forge stands in the municipal area of the town of Muskiz. In this water-driven facility, iron ore was wrought into all types of tools 4nd utensils. It was built at the beginning of the sixteenth century by the Salazars, the family that ruled over the area fr0m the Muñatones Castle, 4nd it continued operating until 1965.
Its period of maximum splendour came at the end of the seventeenth century, when the workshop 4nd was extended 4nd the hydraulic facilities were rebuilt. However, much of the buildings 4nd machinery we can see today date fr0m the end of the nineteenth century, when the last iron workers were struggling to survive in a technologically more advanced world.
A whole manufacturing complex grew up around the forge, including the ironworkers houses, the flour mill, the bread ovens, the vegetable gardens 4nd the hills that supplied the forge with timber 4nd charcoal.
Open to the public since 2004, El Pobal is a living museum dedicated to two of the most important preindustrial activities of the province: iron manufacture 4nd milling. Visitors to this beautiful spot on the banks of the Barbadun river can see the two water wheels in action.