Interior of La Campaneta during an evening event in the main nave, with audience seated and projection screen

La Campaneta is the oldest documented ceramic factory in Onda. Founded in 1806, it operated for over a century as a production centre for tiles and ceramic flooring, and its architecture clearly reflects the industrial scale that Onda's ceramics industry had reached before the large modern factories transformed the town's landscape.

After decades of abandonment, Onda Town Council drove its restoration with co-funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and reopened it as a cultural and civic space. Today it hosts concerts, exhibitions, workshops and all kinds of public events, with a programme that renews throughout the year.

The building and its history

The factory follows the typical typology of 19th-century ceramic industry: a rectangular-plan nave with stone and brick masonry walls, large wooden windows to provide natural light in the workshops, and an industrial chimney still visible from the surrounding area.

Interior of La Campaneta with the circular clay preparation vats from the original ceramic factory, preserved in situ
The clay preparation vats from the original factory, preserved in situ as a record of the 19th-century ceramic production process.

The most remarkable feature of La Campaneta is that the restoration has kept the original clay preparation vats entirely intact: large circular mortar basins where clay was mixed and refined before being thrown on the wheel and fired. This industrial hall, with its vats aligned between stone columns and diagonal light entering through the windows, is one of the most photogenic and evocative spaces in all of Onda.

The restored nave

Main nave of La Campaneta with exposed metal trusses, restored stone walls, polished concrete floor and large windows
The restored main nave: original metal trusses, exposed stone walls and polished concrete floor. La Campaneta's main multipurpose space.

The rehabilitated main nave combines the building's original materials, exposed stone and brick walls, with a contemporary intervention that has introduced visible metal trusses, polished concrete flooring and perimeter lighting that makes the space fully usable for concerts, exhibitions and public events.

Programming and current use

Conference at La Campaneta with a speaker addressing the audience in the nave of Onda's former ceramic factory
The nave prepared for a Cultura Viva concert. La Campaneta regularly hosts music shows, theatre and live performances.

The space hosts a varied programme throughout the year. The Cultura Viva Cycle brings together concerts and live shows across different genres. The Ceramic Crafts Fair turns La Campaneta every year into a showcase for the area's artisan ceramics, with live demonstrations, workshops and music. It has also hosted Candlelight concert cycles and children's activities during Easter and other festivals.

Alongside the public programme, the facilities are made available to local associations and organisations for social, cultural and training activities, making it an active meeting point for the people of Onda.

Check the programme

La Campaneta has no fixed visiting hours: it opens according to scheduled events. The up-to-date programme is available at onda.es.