The four “Mazas de la Ciudad”, that have accompanied the Orihuela Municipal Corporation for almost four centuries, have undergone an extensive restoration and are now back in place in Orihuela.
Since 1629, they are carried by the maceros (currently by municipal officials) accompanying the Municipal Corporation in various protocol acts, mainly in civic-religious processions. Now, the Department of Protocol has restored them, thanks to the work of the jeweller and goldsmith from Orihuela, Adolfo Valero Pérez, so that they shine again in all their splendour.
Their first public outing is this weekend, in the acts of the Fiestas de la Reconquista de Orihuela, as explained by the Councillor, María García, who has presented the restoration work together with the Orihuela professional in charge of carrying out the work.
García highlighted the excellent work carried out by Adolfo Valero “it is a source of pride to have people in the city who can carry out such meticulous work, that our heritage is in good hands and that they value it” and announced that “the four maces will parade for the first time, after their restoration, in the offering of flowers on Sunday. With this work we want future generations to continue enjoying these elements that have been with us from the 17th century”.
For his part, Adolfo Valero Pérez, has shown his pride for “having had this opportunity and that the City Council has trusted me to be able to restore the maces”. Valero has detailed that “the most important part of the restoration has been to change the wooden core, which some of them had dilated due to humidity and had broken the silver on the outside. We have finished the embossing work, removed all the cracks, we have disassembled them, and we have managed clean them without losing antiquity and historical value, and they have been given a silver bath with part rhodium and palladium to prevent it from aging too quickly”. The jeweller has left his signature and dated the date of restoration, to become part of the history of these pieces.
The four Maces of the City date from the 17th century and are made of silver using the hammered and embossed technique. The four maces are identical in size and decoration. They consist of two parts: the upper part has a flattened globular shape where shields arranged on parchment-shaped brackets stamped with the open royal crown are repeated, some with the royal arms or the Aragonese crown (in the field of the shield there are five bars instead of four) and others with the arms of the city, the oriole perched on a log in a walking position and haloed. The mace is finished off with a replica of the mace body.
The lower one is a helical-shaped shaft or handle separated into three sections by mouldings, the upper one being larger than the rest. It is attached to the first body by a circular structure.
The maces are carried by the maceros accompanying the Municipal Corporation in various protocol acts, mainly in civic-religious processions. Traditionally, its use corresponded to municipal employees dressed in gramallas (long clothing down to the feet with pointed sleeves) who also wore wigs. Currently there are changes in the costumes and mainly municipal employees are in charge of wearing them in the acts. They appear in the Inventory of Artistic and Historical Assets of the Town Hall.
Due to continuous use since the 17th century (1629), several restorations have been carried out, one of which was carried out in 1739 by the master silversmith from Orihuela, José Martínez de Pacheco. In one of the clubs there is a mark that would correspond to his initials JM. This silversmith carried out an important professional activity in the city, they stand out above all for the work carried out in the Orihuela Cathedral.
