Old Craftsmen's Casino of Ecija

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On 5 October 1862 a group of craftsmen from Ecija, in a meeting at the San Francisco Schools, agreed to approve a regulation that would govern a Casino Society, named Society of Craftsmen, thus creating the Craftsmen's Casino.

The first premises where the Society met were owned by Francisco Custodio and located near the San Pablo and Santo Domingo Monastery, after which it passed through several provisional venues. From the outset, this Society was very active in socioeconomic and artistic terms. It had an Academy of Drawing, a Library, a Café-Theatre, Board Games, a Mathematics Class, a Gymnastics School, a Lyrical-Dramatic Section, a Bullfighting School, Carnivals, etc.

In 1878 the Society rented some houses at No. 4 Calle Caballeros from the Viscount of Sancho Miranda. These houses were bought on 13 April 1884. At a later date, some adjacent houses were bought with a view to expanding the site to offer new activities to the members.

The interior of the building is made up of a number of rooms from various different periods, but with a certain degree of homogeneity. From 1908 to 1927 a succession of renovations was carried out, embellishing the hall, the exterior facade and its sides and decorating the Assembly Hall with paintings by Mr. Salamanca Tordesillas.

The Craftsmen's Casino Society has survived until today, preserving the property and furniture that was bequeathed to them throughout their history by the members who preceded them.

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