Appendix B. Hórreos and Other Galician Granaries

In Galicia, there are several types of graneiros (or graneiras) [Galego for Spanish graneras, granaries or barns for storing grain]. They are called hórreos, cabazos, cabaceiros, or cabaceiras—among other terms. All of these terms are in the Galego (Galician) language, and these structures are characteristic of Galicia. However, the most common is the hórreo.

An hórreo (pronounced OR-ray-o) is a type of granary (more specifically, a corncrib) found in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula (mainly Galicia, Asturias and Northern Portugal). It is built in wood and/or stone, raised from the ground by pillars topped with flat staddle stones to avoid the access of rodents. Ventilation is allowed by slits in its walls. The floor may also consist of thick bars or decking spaced apart, in order to circulate the air inside. It is separated from the ground to prevent the entry of moisture (which would encourage attack by biotic agents, e.g., fungi and insects) and prevent access by animals, such as rodents.

Old wooden hórreo in Moutrás (Don Madill).

Hórreo of wood and stone in Moutrás (Don Madill).

We had first seen hórreos during our first Camino in 2013, but about all we knew about them was from asking a Galician farm woman what this was used for and, not being able to explain it to us in her language or ours, she just showed us an ear of corn. Our guidebook provided only a little more information in its introduction to Galicia: “Stone granaries hórreos are everywhere storing the local harvest (primarily maize maiz) out of reach of rats and rain.” Shortly after entering Galicia on our Camino in 2014, we saw the above pictured hórreos in the village of Moutrás, along with a roadside sign that provided our first detailed, but still brief, information about hórreos. The sign pictured one of the same hórreos Don had just photographed.

Sign about hórreos in Moutrás (Don Madill).

This kindled our interest in hórreos so that Don photographed virtually every one we saw.

After we completed the Camino, Don continued to research hórreos online, a project that culminated in adding this appendix to our blog. This post is a compilation of bits and pieces of information drawn from various Internet sources that helped explain some of the features seen in Don’s photos or provided additional photos (some of which appear here with credits to their sources). The most useful sources of information are listed in the bibliography at the end of the blog post.

The most common form of hórreo is wooden (although some are of stone or a mix of the two) and with a rectangular base, standing on pillars of stonework or masonry. The most common have a gabled roof, sometimes topped with decorative finials.

ETYMOLOGY (ORIGIN OF THE TERM)

The most widely accepted explanation of the origin of the term hórreo and its variants (hórrio, orno, and órneo) refers to the Latin horreum (from the Greek ὡρεῖον, σιτοφυλακεῖον, ἀποθήκη, απθήκη, barn or granary), which originally designated a building in which products of field crops, especially large grains, were kept. During the Roman Empire, the term horreum was used for any place intended for preserving things of any kind, either wine (vinearia horrea), or goods and supplies (horreum penarium). The Stoic philosopher Seneca, born in Cordoba, wrote that his library was a “horreum,” making it clear that the term was used to designate places of storage of all kinds of goods, including scrolls and parchments. The Latin word horror, -oris (meaning horror, as in English, but also shuddering, shivering, or chill) has the same root because those buildings were dark and cold.

However, other authors would have the current hórreo derive from the pre-Roman órreo, representing a toponym (place name) or hydronym (name of a body of water) that gave its name to a silo for grain.

RELATED TERMS

Granaries in Galicia and surrounding areas come in a wide variety of styles, shapes, and sizes. The most common name that encompasses all of these is hórreo. However, there are a number of other terms that may be synonymous with hórreo or may be used only in certain geographic areas and/or for certain kinds of hórreo. The following are some of the attempts (which do not always agree with each other) to describe the various terms that may be associated with hórreos:

Aside from the generic term hórreo, these structures have other names in different regions: cabazo or cabaceira in Finisterre, hórreo in the central north of the provinces of A Coruña and Lugo, cabozos in the northwest of Lugo, piornos in the estuaries of Arousa and Pontevedra, canastros in Vigo, canizos in Tui and Garda, cabaceiros or canastros between Pontevedra and Ourense, and horro between Lugo and Asturias.

The use of the term hórreo is spread throughout Galicia, with the exception of some areas of the southeast. However, even in Galicia, it can also receive different names depending on the area: hórreo (or hórrio) in the north-central part; cabazo in northwestern A Coruña; cabozo in Lugo, canastro (or more rarely canasto), in the south; cabaceiro between the center and northeast of Ourense, as well as in Lugo but mixed with other forms (cabaceiro, cabaceira, or cabeza); canizo between the Vigo estuary and the Río Miño (Mihno); piorno in Salnés; cabana more in the interior; paneira in the Morrazo Peninsula; orno or órneo on the Cape of Morrazo; hórreo or horro for the Asturian type in eastern Lugo; and other names to a lesser extent.

Some hórreos are called by the generic names cabaceira, cabazo, celeiro, and piorno. However, these are not the same, because the celeiro [barn] and the cabazo are made of sticks, the former being prolonged and the latter circular. In some districts of Ourense province, the name cabaceiros is the same as hórreos.

Outside of Galicia, hórreos are also known as hórreos in Asturias, but in the western end of Asturias they are called cabazo, hórreu, or horru; horriu in León; hurriu in Cantabria; or espigueiro, canastro, caniço (but sometimes hórreo) in northern Portugal.

The Iberian granary erected on pillars is known as hórreo in Castilian Spanish; hórreo, paneira, canastro, piorno, or cabazo in Galician; espigueiro, canastro, or caniço in Portuguese; garea, garaixea, or garaia in Basque; and orri in Catalan.

Some of the above terms have specific meanings:

CANASTRO

Canastro comes from the Latin canistrum, meaning “wicker basket.” The name was originally used to refer to a granary of sticks (hórreo de corres or hórreo de varas), but spread especially in the south of the province of Ourense. It refers to the method of making the walls of the hórreo.

PANEIRA

The paneira, from Latin panarium (derived from panis, bread), is a tank where grain is stored. In Asturias, an hórreo of more than four pillars (esteos in Galego or pegollos in Asturian) is called a panera [breadbox]; it has the same functions as the hórreo, but is distinguished mainly by the roof; while hórreos have pitched (gabled) roofs that meet in a point at the top, paneiras have a hipped roof with a caballete [roof ridge].

In the hórreo of the Ribadeo type (see Appendix C, Subtypes of Galician Hórreo: Typological Clssification), the paneira is the intermediate floor of an hórreo of three levels. In this typological variant, the first level or celeiro is used to store potatoes, the second or paneira to preserve rye and wheat, and the upper or hórreo for corn cobs.

PIORNO

Piorno, from the Latin viburnum (willow), is the name of a plant fiber used for weaving baskets and cabazos. It is also used for the hórreo mainly in the province of Pontevedra, although it is also known there as a type of the hórreo (see Hórreo of Pajar [Palleira] or Piorno Type in Appendix C, Subtypes of Galician Hórreo: Typological Classification). Piorno means broom in Galego.

CELEIRO

The word celeiro (or cileiro, zoleiro, or zuleiro) comes from the Latin cellarium, from cella, for an underground silo or warehouse (Latin from which the English words cellar and cell, respectively, also come). Celeiro can equate to the Spanish terms granero (barn), bodega (cave for storing wine), or a large almacén (warehouse) for grain.

ORIGINS

The hórreo may have had its origins in high ventilated granaries that existed in Celtic villages of Galicia before the arrival of the Romans. Although the current name for this type of building probably comes from the Latin, the basic construction was already known before the Romans arrived here, and also in parts of the world where the Roman Empire never managed to set its feet. In Europe, there are archaeological remains from the Neolithic and Iron Age in what are France and Germany today, in a context related to agriculture. One of the oldest graphic representations, also pre-Roman, is in Valcamonica in northern Italy, which holds an important collection of stone sculptures attributed to Lepontic Celts. Therefore, it is possible that the reapers were pre-Roman, from the Iberian northwest. In turn, there is a supposition by Portuguese scholars that the hórreos existing in the Iberian Peninsula would have originated in Pomerania (a region between the current Germany and Poland), formerly inhabited by the Swabians who, during the barbarian migrations of the 5th and 6th centuries, settled in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Another theory is that they were introduced by the Visigoths, based on the fact that it would be an evolution of a kind of cabaceira [calabash] made with crossed sticks as a basket and covered with straw. These cabaceiras have evolved into the kind of hórreos existing today.

Leboreiro – Cabaceira (cabazo) (Don Madill).

MILLET AND CORN

The use of barns for drying is historically related to the cultivation of millet, which was practiced in the culture of the pre-Roman castros [hill forts]. The first type of hórreo to be employed was probably very similar to the currently still present hórreo de corres or hórreo de varas [hórreo made of green branches], a lightweight and portable celeiro–cesto [barn-basket] made of vegetation. Its evolution started with “Romanization,” with the construction of hórreos of wood and the subsequent adoption of a rectangular shape.

The use of millet continued in the Middle Ages, as seen in many medieval documents, but was later replaced by maize (corn), which first came to Europe from Florida in 1604. The cultivation of corn is documented in the Galician provinces of Lugo and A Coruña in the first third of the 17th century and later in Ourense. By the 17th century, hórreos were wooden and small, but with the introduction of corn, they lengthened and improved their ventilation.

Corn is harvested when the moisture is still high; so it is imperative to keep it dry and at a controlled temperature; otherwise it will ferment. This is especially true in the wet Atlantic regions. For this reason, the whole cobs are stored without shelling, to facilitate the passage of air between them.

Corn cobs inside an hórreo of the rectory in Bealo, concello [municipality] of Boiro, Galicia, near a harvested cornfield (en.wikipedia.org).

In the Middle Ages, bread was the staple food of the population. With the introduction of maize (corn), increased production of bread improved the living conditions of rural people, who were constantly threatened in times of shortage. Corn was also used for rents, mainly in the form of tithes, paid in various species to secular lords, many of whom were intermediaries for ecclesiastical lords in the collection of income, and hórreos (sometimes large) were located in the vicinity of churches and rectories.

The advent of the cultivation of corn created the need for increased storage capacity, resulting in an elongation of the chamber while retaining the same width, and specializing in the curing of corn on the cob with permeable sides on the chamber. Later came the use of stone to give it strength and make it more enduring. The size of an hórreo had economic symbolism; the larger the hórreo the greater the wealth of the owner, and the hórreos reflected the power of the nobility and clergy.

The building of hórreos increased from the mid-19th century, with land clearing and the emergence of new methods of cultivation. Corn production further increased with the introduction of machinery in the 20th century. By the mid-20th century, increased corn production caused the replacement of numerous hórreos with a larger equivalent built with cement or brick, the materials that were at that time beginning to take the place of traditional ones.

DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

In the 1st century BC. Marcus Terentius Varro wrote in Latin of granaries used by the Galaicos: “They constructed in their fields granaries erected above ground in regions of Hispania Criterior [Nearer Spain, which encompassed Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, all of Castile, Galicia, León, and the entire north] and various comarcas [regions] of Apulia. These granaries are ventilated, not only by the air that penetrates from the sides or from the windows, but also by that which flows from below the floor of the same.” Julius Caesar, in De Bello Civili, mentioned “granaries erected in certain places for transporting millet.” Following the many references to the granaries in Roman times, Pliny the Elder, in Naturalis historia, mentioned that granaries in Nearer Spain were built on columns, using wood in the bottom part; he referred to “granaries with columns of wood and exposed to the wind from its exterior surfaces and also from below.” Both Varro and Pliny referred in Latin to granaria sublimia [elevated granaries, granaries on stilts]. In the 1st century AD, the agronomist Lucius Junius Moderatus, in Columella, attributed the design of the granaries of Gallaecia to the abundant rain and humidity, which recommended the raising of stored grain to prevent loss.

The first documented reference to the existence of hórreos in the current Spanish territory is in a document from the year 800. Thus, we have evidence of the origin of the hórreo from Latin authors, but there is some doubt about the form of the granaries or celeiros [barns] to which they refer.

The word orrio appeared in a document from Santoña written in 1092. The same term was also used in a document of 1205 from the valley of Iguña.

The oldest document (in Spanish) with reference to hórreo is a deed to the castro [hill fortress] of Untia (Castrum de Vnctia) near the current town of Betanzos, from 1219. In one paragraph of the document, King Alfonso IX proclaims:

“Y sépase que Vos Abad y Comunidad de dicho Monasterio me dáis a mí para la población de dicha Villa el arriba dicho Castro de Untia y todas las demás heredades que tenéis en torno del mismo Castro. A saber: por la fuente que está en la ribera del río Mandeo junto al puente de Untia y de aquí para arriba por el Valle antiguo y del otro lado por el camino que va a vuestro Hórreo, excepto el mismo Hórreo con su corral y desde aqui siguiendo los limites del mismo Castro con las predichas heredades, quedando a un lado y al otro los dos ríos.” [And from the one known to you as Abbot and the community of the above mentioned monastery I cede to the population of the above mentioned town the Castro of Untia and all the other estates that surround the same Castro. Namely: from the fountain that is on the banks of the river Mandeo next to the bridge of Untia and from here up through the old Valley and from the other side by the road that goes to your Hórreo, except the same Hórreo with its barnyard, and from here following the limits the same Castro with the previously mentioned estates, leaving the two rivers to one side and the other.]

The document also contained a Latin transcription: “Et sciendum quod Vos Abbas et Conuentus predicti Monasterii, datis mihi ad populationem iam dicte ville supradictum Castrum de Vnctia et alias omnes hereditates quas habetis in circuitu ipsius Castri, scilicet per fontem qui est in rippa ríuuli de Mandeo iuxta pontem de Vnctia et inde sursum per Vallem antiquam, et inde per uiam que tendit ad Orreum uestrum, excepto ipso Orreo cum suo currali, et inde quomodo concluditur ipsum Castrum cum predictis hereditatibus duobus riuulis hinc et inde.”

Again, however, we cannot be certain about the form of the hórreo or orreum to which that document of 1219 refers.

We have to wait until later in the 13th century for a graphic depiction of three hórreos (very similar to current hórreos) painted in miniature in song CLXXXVII of the Cantigas de Santa María [Songs of St. Mary] (middle of 13th century-1284), attributed to Alfonso X “El Sabio” (the Wise), who was King of Castile, León, and Galicia from 1252 to 1284. In this depiction, three rectangular hórreos of Gothic style are illustrated. Each hórreo consists of a long, narrow chamber on four pillars with tornarratos [rat repellers], a door with a horseshoe-shaped arch on the end wall, and a gabled tile roof without eaves, sobrepeñas [stone slabs at top of end walls], or crosses atop the roof. This uniformity of form suggests that in Galicia their use was previous to the start of the cultivation of corn, probably linked to the cultivation of millet. However, the absence of doelas [staves] in the side walls and pontóns [beams, timbers] in the floor of the chamber does not allow the ventilation of the interior of the chamber; so we are dealing with a kind of hórreo not yet specialized for the preservation of corn.

Miniature of hórreos in Cantigas de Santa María (gl.wikipedia.org).

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

Before proceeding to discuss different types of hórreo, it is important to introduce the vocabulary (mostly in Galego, the Galician language) used for the various parts of the hórreo, since their characteristics often determine the type.

The Galician hórreo (sometimes called the Galician-Portuguese type) consists of elements with Galician (Galego) names. The most basic parts are a base [base, in Galego or Spanish], a cámera [(storage) chamber, cámara in Spanish], a means of access, and some ornamental and symbolic elements. The base (foundation) is how the chamber is separated from the ground. The chamber, meanwhile, should allow the grain contact with air to prevent wetness. The access is achieved through a moveable or fixed ladder. The ornaments represent the power of the house and invoke divine protection.

CHAMBER

The cámera [chamber] is the enclosure in which the grain is stored. It is generally rectangular and has variable height, width, and length. The rectangular form allows its expansion in an orderly manner and according to needs. The length of a chamber can be extended by periodically repeating the structure of supports below and (sometimes) columns above them. Most are anywhere from 1.5 to about 3 m in length, but there are notable exceptions. The longer hórreos can surpass 35 m in length, as the one in at the rectory of Santa Comba in Carnota, which is considered a historic and artistic monument. The hórreos at Lira and Araño also surpass 35 m.

The chamber consists of a narrow, oblong storage space, permeable to the passage of air, separated from the ground to prevent the entry of moisture or animals. The width of the chamber typically ranges between 1.3 and 1.5 m, in order that the ears of corn are not too far from the walls, for ventilation.

The chamber comprises a floor (called lastra [slab, flagstone]); two longitudinal walls (called costais) on the long sides; and two transverse walls (called penais, cabaceiras, or cabezas) on the short sides. Everything is supported on a frame (called grade [grid] or marco), composed of two trabes [beams] (called doelas [staves], mesas or táboas [tables], or pontóns [timbers, beams]) on the long sides; the floorboards and tables above them; some columnas [columns]; the lintels (called padieiras, dinteis or linteis), and the pinches [gables]; and upper beams (called soleiras [crossbeams, timbers, thresholds]). The side walls (costais) of various materials always have numerous vents. The end walls (penais) sometimes also have vents, to allow ventilation on all sides. The structure is protected from rain by a roof (usually tiled and gabled) that may be adorned at both ends with crosses and other stone shapes. This scheme has many basic constructive variants depending on the area and the techniques and materials used.

Wooden hórreo in Melide, Furelos (es.wikipedia.org).

Stone hórreo in Dumbría (Don Madill).

The chamber can be made of wood and stone or combinations of the two in various proportions. The stone walls can take a variety of forms and be made of masonry blockwork between shims, stonework, dry masonry (without mortar), beveled poles, shale lattice, or alternating blocks of slate, and more recently hollow or perforated ceramic brick. The wooden walls can be made of wooden frames with vertical or, more rarely, horizontal staves. Each of the solutions can constitute the whole wall, or it may be formed by discontinuous sections of different composition.

The corncobs are collected in the chamber of the hórreo with the help of transverse boards (tables) that divide it into sectors, forming partitions that allow the passage of air. The tables are separated by intervals at which the ears are placed in parallel with the narrowest part inward. When the hórreo is very wide, the partitions are longitudinal, leaving a central space between them for access. In any case, these temporary partitions go no higher than two-thirds of the free internal height of the chamber and always leave the top open.

Hórreo in Ames, Galicia with corn stacked on different levels (gl.wikipedia.org).

Cámera [chamber] of an hórreo in Boiro, with corncobs on tables and with longitudinal partitions and central space for access (gl.wikipedia.org and es.wikipedia.org).

Some hórreos use horizontal rather than vertical boards for ventilation on the sides of the chamber, although this is uncommon.

Stone hórreos have slots for ventilation on two sides or sometimes all four. The slots may be simple or sometimes with decorative motifs. Depending on the region, the slots carved in the granite may be vertical or horizontal.

Carballo – stone hórreo with six rows of vertical slots on all four sides (Don Madill).

Dumbría – hórreo of quarried (cut) stones with horizontal slots on all four sides (Don Madill).

Olveiroa – cut stone hórreo with horizontal slots on all four sides (Don Madill).

Some hórreos are made of rough, uncut stone laid in layers on top of one another without mortar (called dry masonry). In this case, the ventilation is provided by natural gaps that occur between layers of stone and between stones in a layer. In these hórreos, the same material is used on all four sides.

Olveiroa – rough, uncut stone hórreo with natural gaps between rows of dry masonry on all four sides (Don Madill).

Santa Mariña – hórreo of rough, uncut stones in dry masonry; shows natural gaps between layers of stone (Don Madill).

Vilar de Xastro – hórreo of rough, uncut stone; shows natural gaps between rows of stones (Don Madill).

Santa Mariña – ruins of hórreo made of rough, uncut stones in dry masonry; shows thickness of walls (Don Madill).

The slits in the walls allow ventilation, but are narrow enough to prevent the entry of insects. The floor of the chamber may consist of thick bars or decking spaced apart, in order to circulate the air inside to facilitate the airing of grains.

The chamber of a granary can be divided into spaces called claros [literally clear or light]. Their size depends on the geographical area in which they are located. They may be made of wood and/or stone.

The chamber rests on a base [base] that generally has the following parts: a limiar or solera [threshold, hearth, sill] that acts like a platform, and some elements of support.

SUPPORTS

Soportes [supports] are the elements that raise the hórreo above the ground for better aeration. There are different kinds of supports: columns or pillars (called esteos in Galego or pegollos in Asturian, or sometimes columnas [columns] or pies [feet]); transverse walls (called cepas or muros transversais); a closed base (called cerrados , base cerrada, or base pechada); a massive, solid base (called base maciza or cepa maciza); or a barn (called celeiro). An hórreo may also be supported atop any stone wall around a farm or church. It is common to find combinations of all or several types.

Hórreos on closed base (celeiro [barn]) (left) and on esteos (right) in Torres do Allo, Zas (gl.wikipedia.org).

Esteos

Esteos [pillars, columns, sometimes translated as mainstays] are used in areas where granite is compact and durable, corresponding to almost all of the Pontevedra province, the midwest part of Ourense, and the west of A Coruña. The esteos are monolithic and have varying shapes, always tending to geometric simplicity. Most are cylindrical, but some are square, octagonal, or even more ornate. The use of esteos imposes a constructive solution of arquitrabas [architraves (lintels)], especially where there is scarce use of masonry in the chamber as a closing device. The number of esteos varies with the length of the hórreo, always in even numbers (pairs). If the hórreo is divided into sections (claros), each corresponds to a pair of columns; the distance between them is determined by the length of longitudinal lintels. The esteos are placed on stone bases or walls, sometimes atop a barn, or sometimes even on the wall fencing the property.

Architrave system with esteos in hórreo of San Mamede in Carnota (gl.wikipedia.org).

Pies

Pies or pés [feet] are virtually synonymous with esteos. They are columns that can be made of stone or wood. They come in many forms, and the most abundant are square, cylindrical, and hexagonal. Some wooden pies resemble tree trunks or stumps.

Pies or pés [feet] of  hórreo in Noia (gl.wikipedia.org).

Cepas

Cepas [transverse walls, literally stumps] (also called muros transversais) are columns the width of the hórreo. They are used in areas where the granite is very diaclasado [jointed]. Transverse walls may be made of quarried stone (massive or masonry) or rough stones. They are almost exclusively in the north and east of the province of A Coruña, in almost all of Lugo, and in the neighboring area of Ourense. Tornarratos are also used on them. The placement of the cepas corresponds with the sections (claros) of the hórreo. Usually, masonry walls are as long as the chamber is wide, but there are also compound forms with a few pieces of quarried stone of variable profile. In western Asturias, transverse walls are usually very high, because of the necessity of raising the chamber to get good ventilation. In some areas, especially in the north, certain patterns are seen in the orientation of the hórreos, which tend to have better ventilation when standing perpendicular to the direction of prevailing winds, so that the longest side of the chamber receives the maximum amount of air.

Carballal – mixed hórreo with stone cepas on short stone wall (Don Madill).

Some hórreos use a combination of esteos and cepas, with transverse walls under the end walls and columns in the intermediate section(s).

Piñeiro – long mixed hórreo of 4 sections (claros) with cepas on ends and 3 pairs of esteos in middle (Don Madill).

Celeirós

Celeirós [barns, granaries], also called celeiro inferior [lower barn, granary], consist of four walls, with approximately the same dimensions as the chamber. They can be used to store various items. This type of support is found primarily in the province of A Coruña.

A Calle – large, wide, mixed hórreo on stone walls of celeiro [barn] below (Don Madill).

Base Maciza

The base maciza or cepa maciza [massive, solid base] is a pedestal of masonry or dry masonry of approximately the same dimensions as the floor of the chamber. It is used in rare and very localized areas: the west-central part of the province of Lugo (with wooden chamber), north of A Coruña (with mixed chamber), and the north coast of Portugal.

Santa Mariña – rough stone hórreo on solid stone base (base maciza) (Don Madill).

Vilar de Xastro – rough stone hórreo on solid stone base (base maciza) (Don Madill).

Tornarratos

Tornarratos [rat-repellers (literally turn back mice or rats)] are pieces of stone that go on top of the support, protruding from it to prevent rats and mice from climbing up into the granary. Rats and mice can climb vertically but never be turned upside down; so they fall when they get to the tornarratos without reaching the stored corn. There are different styles and different forms: individual style (circular, square, hexagonal, or octagonal) and mesa [table] style (oval or rectangular).

Position of tornarratos between the esteo and the padieira [lintel] on which the chamber rests (gl.wikipedia.org).

The English equivalent of tornarratos is staddle or staddle stone. This is a stone, especially one resembling a mushroom in shape, supporting a granary (or a hayrick or game larder). Their purpose is to protect the stored grain from vermin and water seepage. They can be found mainly in England, Galicia, and Asturias. The English name comes from the Middle English stathol, meaning a foundation, support, or tree trunk. That origin suggests that the first staddles were made of wood. The English term applies not just to the separate overhanging (circular or square) “cap” of the mushroom, but also to the tapering (4-sided or conical) stone base that it crowns.

English granary, built in 1731, on staddle stones (en.wikipedia.org).

Building on staddle stones in Somerset, England (en.wikipedia.org).

All of the basic types of support interpose between the supports and the chamber flat and thin pieces of slate or granite (called tornarratos [rat-repellers, in Galego or Asturian], tornarratas in Spain, vira-ratos [staddle stones in Galego], capas [cloaks or layers], capelas [chapels], rateiras [mousetraps], toldas [awnings], postas [posts?], or moas [grindstones, muelas in Asturian]), which aim to prevent rodents or moisture from entering from the ground. When a tornarratos covers a cepa or a pair of columns (esteos) at the same time, as in Ourense and Portugal, it is called a mesa [table].

Sometimes, one of the tornarratas happens to protrude directly below a door in the side of the chamber and can serve as an intermediate step between a stone staircase and the door. In this case, it may be called capa de entrada.

Olveiroa – stone hórreo on 5 pairs of esteos; the tornarratos directly below the door is reinforced as an intermediate step from stone staircase (Don Madill).

When the chamber is supported by a celeiro [barn], other closed stone base, or base maciza, the slab that forms the bottom of the chamber can also serve as the tornarratos.

Near Arzúa – large, wide hórreo with solid stone walls below; slab at bottom of chamber serves as tornarratos (Don Madill).

Soleira

Sometimes the esteos or cepas rest on a flat stone base called a soleira [threshold, hearth, sill; solera in Spanish)]. Strangely enough, the same term can also be used in Galego for the eaves (alero in Spanish); it is also used for the floor of the corredor [gallery, balcony] of an Asturian hórreo.

Tornaformigas

When the columns rest on a stone base, the soleira], it is usual (especially in hórreos that store honey) to use small canals surrounding the base of the column, called tornaformigas [ant-repeller (literally turn back ants)], which when filled with rain water act like a miniature moat prevent the passage of ants and small insects. The ants cannot climb into the hórreo because they fall into the pit full of water.

Zócolo

Sometimes, the esteos or cepas rest on a zócolo [socle; zócalo in Spanish]. In architecture, a socle is a projecting, ledgelike foundation piece, as for a column, wall, statue, etc. In the case of hórreos, it seems to be a short stone wall just wide enough for the esteos or cepas to rest upon, but sometimes longer than the rest of the hórreo.

Abeleiroas – rough stone hórreo with esteos on short stone wall (zócolo) (Don Madill).

Gonzar – mixed hórreo with cepas resting on short stone wall (zócolo) (Don Madill).

Support Materials

Hórreos of stone predominate in the western part of the provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra and in the north of Lugo, but without being exclusive. The granite in those zones is little diaclasado [jointed, cleft, fractured], allowing its use in a constructive scheme with architraves consisting of a long span of horizontal pieces supported by vertical columns. In the north, the granite is very cleft, not allowing it to endure the pressures of flexion. For this reason, the hórreo is supported by transverse walls made of masonry and granite, or entirely of wood on masonry transverse walls.

The Spanish diaclasa [can be translated as joint, rift, cleft, fissure, crack] comes from the Greek dia, through and klasis, break. In geological terms, a joint is a break (fracture) of natural origin in the continuity of either a layer or a body of rock that lacks any visible or measurable movement between the surfaces of the fracture (slippage of the blocks), so that there is only a minimal transverse spacing. The distinction between joints and faults (in which there is slippage of the blocks) hinges on the terms visible or measurable, which depends on the scale of observation. Joints result from brittle fracture of a rock body or layer as the result of tensile stresses. The most prominent joints occur in the most well-consolidated, lithified, and highly competent rocks, such as sandstone, limestone, quartzite, and granite. Joints may be open fractures or filled by various materials.

Where appropriate, the building material of the supports seeks to minimize the number of vertical joints to minimize the amount of moisture that can rise from the ground by capillarity. In the hórreos on columns, this problem is solved by the monolith of the column itself. To achieve the same effect in transverse walls using masonry, horizontal tornarratos have been adopted, which interrupt the communication of the chamber with the ground through vertical joints of mortar.

DINTEIS

Dinteis [lintels] (also called linteis or padieiras; dinteles in Spanish) are supported on the tornarratos and bear the weight of the granary. The singular (in Galego or Spanish) is dintel. They can be made of wood or stone. The term normally refers to the dinteis inferior [lower lintels] that bear the weight of the granary and rest on top of the tornarratos [rat-repeller]. There can also be dinteis (aka cornisas [cornices]) across the top of the chamber where it adjoins the roof.

Dintel - wooden lintel (gl.wikipedia.org cropped).

Dintel - stone lintel (en.wikipedia.org cropped).

PENAIS

A penal (plural penais in Galego, penales in Spanish, literally, criminal or penalty] is the head (or foot) of the hórreo. These are the elements that constitute the narrower end walls of the chamber. They can be made of wood and/or stone. Some may have slots that allow ventilation but are narrow enough to prevent the entry of insects. Some penais may have ornamentation.

Quintáns? – mixed hórreo with wooden staves on side and penal (Don Madill).

Quarried stone hórreo in Carnota with vents and ornamentation on penal (es.wikipedia.org).

PINCHES

Pinches [gables; literally clicks] are triangular pieces at the top of the penais. They often have some sort of ornamentation.

Toxibo – hórreo with ornamentation on penal and pinche (Don Madill).

The pinche may also be known as pinchón [gable end] or testa [head] in certain areas.

SOBREPENAS

A prominent feature are the sobrepenas (sobre [over, above] + penal). These are pieces placed on top of the pinches, above the penais. They protrude over the pinche to prevent it from falling or avoid penetration of water through the joints.) They are generally in rectangular shape, with the same item on each end. They are made of the same material as the penais and pinches (wood or stone).

Ventosa – sobrepenas at ends of roof supporting cross and pinnacle finials (Don Madill).

ACCESS

As a general rule, the elements that allow access to the chamber should not allow the entry of animals.

Door

When a door is used, the location of the door is variable, depending on the types, and fairly constant within the same type. It is usually in one of the transverse end walls (penais), and less frequently in one of the side walls. It is usually the same height as the chamber. Its opening is always to the exterior and often has a prominent threshold that helps keep the grain inside the chamber. In exceptional cases, there may be two doors—one in a transverse wall and one on the side, or one on each transverse wall.

A Grixa – stone hórreo with doors both on penal and side (Don Madill).

Sometimes, there is a landing in front of the door to facilitate access and filling the hórreo, sometimes as an extension of one of the tornarratos and sometimes as an extension of the chamber floor.

Amenal – mixed hórreo on masonry cepas atop a stone base with steps; extension of chamber floor to facilitate access to door in penal (Don Madill).

Although access in most cases is by means of a hinged, swinging door (usually on one of the narrow ends), some hórreos have removable side panels.

Staircase

If any fixed stairway or catwalk leads to the chamber, it must stop at sufficient distance to ensure isolation. Usually access is provided simply with a movable element, whether a ladder, a few steps, or a wooden stool, leading to a landing at a different height from the chamber. However, there may be a fixed staircase, usually stone, leading to a landing near the door, but at a slightly lower level.

Toxibo – mixed hórreo with cepas on stone base and stone staircase (Don Madill).

Fixed stairs between transverse walls for access to cabozo (hórreo) in O Vilar de Santiago, parish of Santiago de Mondoñedo, Concello de Mondoñedo] (gl.wikipedia.org).

ORNAMENTATION

Forming part of the composition of the hórreo are a whole series of elements that have no practical utility. They adorn the hórreo to help enhance its beauty and, moreover, express the conception the countryfolk have of their relationship with the cultivation and preservation of the grain, from an anthropological and cultural perspective. The most common is the Latin cross, but there are a variety of decorations that are generalized with the nickname turulecos.

Not all hórreos have decorations, but one often sees crosses or symbols associated with fertility adorning the top of the penais [narrow end walls].

Hórreo in Gonzar, Galicia with rosette on penal and finials over ends of roof (commons.wikimedia.org).

Gonzar – hórreo with rosette on penal and ornamentation on pinche (Don Madill).

Tetrasquel cut in wood of hórreo in Os Ancares (Lugo) (es.wikipedia.org).

A tetrasquel (from Greek tetraskeles, four-legged) is a Celtic symbol that seems to represent the sun, consisting of four curved branches, legs, or arms radiating from a center; it appears. Along with swastikas and trisquels (with three arms), it appears as a protector-benefactor symbol engraved on houses, furniture, barns, and hórreos.

Finials

Finials (called remates or terminais [terminal elements] in Galego) are ornamental elements often placed at the top of the sobrepenas. Finials may crown one or both ends of the hórreo. In wooden and mixed hórreos, there are fewer finials.

The most common decoration on a finial is a cross. However, many hórreos offer curious manifestations of folk art for adornment at the ends, because at the top of each end of the roof there is no lack of silhouettes of doves resting, another in the act of taking flight, a small bell tower with its tiny bells, or symbolically the chalice with the host, perhaps representing with this the Eucharistic emblem on the coat of arms of Galicia; there is also no lack of sundials, sailboats, or cataventos [weather vanes], with their many varieties, and the silhouette of the arrogant cock, whose haughty demeanor seems to defy the wind tossing his boastful cacará [crowing]. There may be spires, towers, chapels, statues of saints, monstrances, pennants, animal shapes, etc.

Diversity of finials on hórreos in Estrada (gl.wikipedia.org).

Castañedas – hórreo with miniature church belfry on one finial and cross on other end (Don Madill).

Crosses. Crosses represent crop protection. They are more frequent on hórreos made with greater care; so at least half of the hórreos do not have a cross. The presence of a cross corresponds almost directly with the type of hórreo, predominantly on types made of stone and less on wooden ones.

Cross finial on sobrepenas (es.wikipedia.org).

Dumbría – Celtic cross on roof of hórreo (Don Madill).

Capiados. Capiados are conical finials (spikes) lining the bottom of the eaves. They are found exclusively in coastal Lugo.

Conical finials on hórreo in Foz (Lugo) (es.wikipedia.org).

Tornaventos. Tornaventos [windbreaks] hold down the tiles by giving them weight.

Remates Pirimidais. Remates pirimidais [pyramidal finials] go over the vertices of sobrepenas, on the end without the cross or on both. In some cases, highly ornamented pairs flank a cross on each pinche.

A Brea? - hórreo with pyramidal finials on tops of penais (Don Madill).

Pinnacles. A pináculo [pinnacle] can accompany the cross on the opposite pinche.

Pinnacle (es.wikipedia.org).

Lavacolla – hórreo with cross and 5 pinnacles on roof (Don Madill).

Position. Ornaments of the roof bear a kind of hierarchy in relation to their position on the hórreo. So, if there is a cross above the end wall where the door is, the other end is left for purely ornamental elements such as pinnacles or pennants. Similarly, when the door is on the side of the hórreo, there are similar elements crowning the two pinches; they are crosses or pinnacles. When an hórreo has a third gable over a side door, the cross would top the sobrepena of that gable, and the ones at the two ends would have other ornamental elements, such as pinnacles.

Hórreo with third gable (es.wikipedia.org).

Sobrepenas

The sobrepenas themselves may be ornamental, rather than just functional.

A Brea? – hórreo with fancy sobrepenas (Don Madill).

Pinches

Various decorative patterns may also appear on the pinches, below the finial and sobrepenas on the end of an hórreo. They may include the date of construction.

Barbadelo – hórreo with date on pinche (Don Madill).

Penal

Even the penal on the end opposite the door may have decorative elements.

Toxibo – hórreo with penal decorated with rosette, decorative pinche, and roof topped with pinnacle and cross (Don Madill).

ROOFS

As usual in popular Galician architecture, the roofs do not have much slope. In most cases, roofs are pitched with two slopes (tellado a dúas augas, gabled), and the slope is variable, depending on the roofing material. Some hórreos have a hipped roof (tellado a catro augas, with four slopes), such as in the hórreos of the Mondoñedo and Ribadeo types.

Three basic types of roofing materials are used: ceramic tile, slabs of slate, and granite slabs. Ceramic tile is the unique material of the whole western and southern areas. Slabs of slate are used in the northern and eastern areas. There is a narrow intermediate transition zone in which there is a mix of the two. The distribution areas of tile and slate roofs correspond to two key areas of the Galician geological map: western (granite and gneiss) and eastern (Paleozoic slate).

Tile

Ceramic tile is the unique material of the whole western and southern areas of Galicia. Ceramic tile is mostly curved, but may be flat.

Hórreos with tile roofs – A Merca, Ourense (gl.wikipedia.org).

B077a (2523) Ventosa – hórreo with curved tile roof (Don Madill).

Burgueiros – long hórreo with curved tile roof (Don Madill).

Normally, the tiles project beyond the chamber or the thickness of a little capiado, but there is a tendency to accentuate the eaves more in the south, especially on a wooden hórreo, until in Portugal you have a projection equivalent in width to the chamber.

Slate

Slabs of slate are used in the northern and eastern areas of Galicia.

Hórreo with roof of slate slabs (gl.wikipedia.org).

Airexe – mixed hórreo with (remnants of) slate roof (Don Madill).

Hórreo in Burela with roof of slate slabs (es.wikipedia.org).

Granite

The granite slab is used rarely, more in the far south. The small size of the roofs allows them to use slabs of granite, although infrequently. The junctions between slabs may be covered with small pieces or granite or with tiles.

Hórreo with granite slab roof (Don Madill).

Straw

Some hórreos (particularly the Asturian type, which may also occur in Galicia) may have straw roofs. Thatched roofs are reserved for cabazos and the hórreos of the Asturian type; in the case of cabazos, it is a unitary piece that can be removed for filling the chamber with corn cobs.

Asturian-style Hórreo with straw (thatched) roof in Piornedo, Galicia (en.wikipedia.org).

Wooden Slats

Roofs of wooden slats are used almost exclusively in poor buildings, and almost all of them have disappeared because of the expiration of the material.

Corrugated Steel

Some hórreos have replaced their original roofs (probably tile) with one of corrugated steel.

Ventosa – hórreos with corrugated steel roofs (Don Madill).

Carizas – stone hórreo with corrugated steel roof (red to look like tile) (Don Madill).

Roof Supports

The roof is supported by tesouras (Spanish tijeras [scissors])—an angle of two beams in the form of an A, which gives the pointed shape to the roofs), the cume (Spanish cumbre [top, easel]) (ridge of a tile roof), and ripias (tables upon which tiles or slabs rest). There may also be stone remates terminais [terminal finials, end-caps] called sobrepenas or tornachoivas (Spanish tornaaguas [waterspouts], or the roof may be topped by a beiril (Spanish alero [canopy, eaves] (a row of tiles projecting out over the ledge or cornice). The easel or central ridge (cumiera) rests on the corvas [hamstrings], which are columns on the cabaceiras [headers]. Supported on the same corva is the tellerol (a cut-out table supporting the eaves of the shingles), which supports the roof material and eaves on their underside.

Gables

On a gabled roof, the front and rear pinches [gables; pinchos in Spanish (literally spikes, skewers)] are closed with pimpinelas [pimpernels] (a stone cap that goes over the top corner of the hórreo). Rarely, and in hórreos with a side door, the roof forms over the door an insert in the form of a bufarda (Spanish buharda [dormer window, garret, attic] that protrudes over the eaves with a third gable.

Hórreo with third gable or pimpernel (gl.wikipedia.org).

This type, with a third pinche over the side door, is sometimes called estilo capilla [chapel style] and is found on the Morrazo peninsula up to Pontevedra. The gabled roof almost always has turulecos [decorative elements].

SHAPES

Although hórreos are traditionally rectangular, they may be square, round, L-shaped, and even octagonal. They may also be combined with another type of structure, such as a celeiro [barn] or pombal [dovecote].

RECTANGULAR HÓRREOS

Hórreos with a rectangular chamber are the most common in Galicia, in coastal areas of Asturias, and in Portugal. The Asturian variant called panera is also rectangular.

Panera with rectangular chamber in Asturias (gl.wikipedia.org).

SQUARE HÓRREOS

Square hórreos, usually known as Asturianos (Asturian style), are not exclusively in Asturias; they are also found in western Cantabria, León, eastern Galicia, and in the north of the Galician province of Lugo. There are also some found in Basque-Navarra. In all those locations, they are found in mountainous areas and valleys. The format is always quadrangular, being predominantly constructed of wood (oak and chestnut). They are typically based on four feet.

Asturian hórreo in Sietes with square chamber (en.wikipedia.org).

The hórreo with a square chamber is akin to similar constructions of Central and Northern Europe (typically populations devoted to grazing).

ROUND HÓRREOS

The hórreo de varas (aka hórreo de corres or cabazo) has a round shape.

Cabazo in Orosa, Palas de Rei (gl.wikipedia.org).

OCTAGONAL HÓRREOS

Octagonal hórreos are found in the Concello de Fonsagrada in the Galician province of Lugo.

Octagonal hórreo in A Airexa, Vilabol de Suarna parish, Concello de Fonsagrada (www.fonsaweb.com).

Octagonal hórreo with slate roof in Vilabol de Suarna, Concello de Fonsagrada (www.fonsaweb.com ).

CORNER (L-SHAPED) HÓRREOS

The most remarkable feature of the hórreos en esquina [hórreos on a corner] subtype is their L-shaped form. This atypical form is usually in response to the lack of space on the terrain rather than constructive convenience. In fact, it is not the ideal solution for ventilation of the ears of corn. The perpendicular meeting of the two chambers necessitates unique solutions at the intersection of the roofs.

Corner hórreo in Meaño, in Galician province of Pontevedra (gl.wikipedia.org).

Corner hórreos are quite scarce, and the only ones that remain are unitary works, which means that none is the result of the aggregation of two hórreos of different origin. There is total of a half dozen of them, mostly in the province of Pontevedra.

COMBINED HÓRREOS

The chamber of an hórreo often rests directly on a base cerrada [closed base], celeiro [barn], or granero [granary] at ground level, forming a storage unit divided into strata more or less separated from the ground and more or less close to the air. This solution extends throughout Galicia, but it is in the north of Lugo and western Asturias that a variant is found that explores the efficiency of this compaction of auxiliary uses.

Hórreo and pombal [dovecote] both resting on closed base in Vilaronte, Foz on the northern coast of Lugo (gl.wikipedia.org).

Some combined hórreos accentuate the vertical dimension to accommodate storage space at ground level, drying in the intermediate level, and breeding pigeons in a dovecote at the top level. This solution is found particularly in hórreos of the Ribadeo type.

Hórreo of Ribadeo type with chamber beneath pombal [Spanish: palomar, dovecote] over a closed base (celeiro [barn]) in Viladaíde, Barreiros (gl.wikipedia.org).

In Asturias, there appear similar solutions consisting of the hybridization of an Asturian type of hórreo with two of the Galician type that adjoin it with their longer sides, giving rise to two drying chambers closed at the ends of the corridor.

LARGE HÓRREOS

Two of the longest and largest hórreos of Galicia are located just a few kilometers apart in the Concello de Carnota on the Costa da Morte in A Coruña province. They are known as Santa Comba de Carnota and Santa María de Lira. Both are of the same (Finisterre) type. They are built with granite stone and rest on 22 pairs of feet. Their roofs are pitched and tiled. They provide dark and ventilated places that are useful for storing and drying grain. Besides that, they have tornarratos that serve to keep out rodents.

The people of the parishes of Santa Comba de Carnota and Santa María de Lira do not agree on which hórreo is the largest. Although the one at Lira is the longest, the one at Carnota is taller and thus has a higher storage capacity.

Many of these large granaries, as in the case of Santa María de Lira and Santa Comba de Carnota, were part of a complex made up of the parish church, the rectory, and a large pombal (Spanish palomar [dovecote]). This gives us an idea of the power of the clergy in previous centuries. However, their construction was possible thanks to the support and financial contributions of the neighbors, who saw in them a way of salvation and obtaining ecclesiastical favors.

Carnota

The hórreo in Carnota is possibly the most famous in Galicia and has been declared a National Monument. With a length of 34.76 m and width of 1.9 m, it is classified as one of the largest in Galicia, together with the one in Lira at 36.53 m and the one in Araño (Rianxo) at 37.05 m. It is in the Finisterre style, using almost exclusively granite in its construction, even the ceiling. According to its inscription, it was designed by the architect Gregorio Quintela. It was originally built in 1768, but was enlarged with 11 new pairs of “feet” in 1783. It now rests on 22 pairs of feet and has 3 doors on one side. Both ends of its roof have pinnacles at the corners with 2 bollards and a raised cross above the center. It was used for centuries to preserve crops, especially corn and potatoes. It is part of a complex that includes the Baroque church of Santa Comba (or Columba, built 1755-1825), a magnificent manor house (rectory), and a palomar [dovecote]. The fact that its construction is so similar to the one in Lira suggests the possibility of an ancient rivalry between the two parishes.

Hórreo of Carnota, Galicia (en.wikipedia.org).

Quarried stone hórreo in Carnota with vents and ornamentation on penal (es.wikipedia.org).

Lira

By the time the hórreo in Carnota was operating, construction was started on a possible rival, the hórreo (cabaceira, as it is called in the area) of Santa María de Lira, which was built of grey granite between 1779 and 1814, also in the Finisterre style. Like Santa Comba de Carnota, it is supported by 22 pairs of feet. With a width of 1.6 m, its length of 36.53 m made it the second largest hórreo of this type in Galicia, ahead of its rival neighbor. Like its rival, it originally had 11 pairs of “feet” but was later expanded to 22 pairs. As at Carnota, both ends of its roof have pinnacles at the corners with 2 bollards, but only one end now has a cross above the center. It has 3 doors in one side. It is raised on a small stone platform to overcome the unevenness of the terrain where it stands. Next to this hórreo is a large cylindrical palomar [dovecote], constructed of whitewashed masonry with a conical, tiled roof. Alongside these, of course, is the parish church of Santa María de Lira, built in the Baroque style in 1607, which received its current form in 1825. All these are part of the complex called Igrexario de Lira.

Hórreo of quarried stone on esteos in Lira, near dovecote (gl.wikipedia.org).

Araño

The hórreo at Araño (in Concello de Rianxo, in A Coruña province) is the longest in Galicia. Its external dimensions are 37.05 m long, 2.4 m wide, and 2.7 m high, with an internal capacity of 169.4 cubic meters, 109.31 in the chamber and 59.09 in the barn below). However, unlike the hórreos of Lira and Carnota, it is not supported by feet (columns) but rather by a closed base or celeiro [barn]; thus, an argument can be made that it is not of the same type. Possibly from the mid-17th century, it is a demonstration of the economic power reached by the Galician rural clergy at the time. It is made of stone with gabled roof covered with tiles. Two doors open in one side. Both ends of the roof are decorated on the top with a central cross flanked by two small pyramidal finials. The long slab on which the chamber rests also serves as the tornarratos. The hórreo is part of a complex that includes the church of Santa Baia and the tiny chapel of Nuestra Señora de los Milagros de Araño. It stored the harvest of the inhabitants, who had to give a part to the clergy. Outside the enclosure are the remains of a palomar [dovecote] and the magnificent old rectory that are also part of the complex.

Hórreo of quarried stone over a celeiro (barn) in Araño (gl.wikipedia.org).

San Xoán de Poio

The hórreo with the largest capacity, actually a wider variant called hórrea, is at the Monasterio (or Convento) de San Xoán de Poio (Convent of San Juan de Poyo) in Poio, in the Galician province of Pontevedra. It is 33.46 m long and 3.37 m wide (112.69 square meters)] for an interior volume of 123.25 cubic meters and is supported by 51 feet (17 rows of 3 feet each). Due to its width, it has a hipped rather than gabled roof. All 4 sides have large vertical slots for ventilation. It has four doors on one side. It was built in the late 18th century.

Hórrea of Convento de San Juan de Poyo (es.wikipedia.org).

[The same website that showed Poio as having the greatest width and largest surface area, showed Araño as having the largest capacity at 170 cubic meters.]

San Martiño de Ozon

The hórreo of the monastery at San Martiño de Ozon, in Concello de Muxía in the province of A Coruña, also has 22 pairs of square esteos. It is 27.3 m long, making it the fifth longest in Galicia. It is made of granite in its entirety (except for the tile roof) and sits on feet with circular tornarratos. The chamber is of masonry, with openings between the horizontal rows to allow ventilation. The gabled roof is covered with tiles and has pinnacles over the sobrepenas. It dates from the 18th century. It is located next to the architectural complex of the monastery of San Martiño de Ozon and is where the abundant revenues (tithes of corn and wheat) collected by the monastery were kept. This recalls the extent of control exercised by the monks over agricultural production in the high Middle Ages and into the modern age in many parts of the country.

San Martiño de Ozon –hórreo with 22 pairs of esteos (Don Madill).

San Martiño de Ozon – hórreo with 22 pairs of esteos and a single door (Don Madill).

During summer months, pilgrims on the Camino continuing from Santiago to Muxía are now allowed to sleep overnight without charge in the interior of this hórreo (which the locals call a cabazo). This is permitted until the harvest time for potatoes and corn, which are then stored here.

Cores

The TALLEST hórreo in Galicia is in Cores (Ponteceso). It rises 8.5 meters from the ground and looks like a 3-story house with doors and windows. It does not have feet at the bottom. Instead, there is a ground floor where chickens sleep. Above, on the first floor, the owners keep potatoes, chestnuts, and junk they no longer want in the house. Up under the roof, the ventilated second floor stores grain. Although it is not visible in the photo below, this unique example of hórreo also has a loft. The entire building is made of stone, except for the drainpipe for rain.

POSITION OF HÓRREOS

An hórreo may be located near a house, church, or rectory. Sometimes it is part of a group of hórreos.

HOUSE

The location of hórreos has more to do with the house than with the cornfield. In many towns and villages, hórreos are usually near a house: in the curral, in the vicinity of the eira, or in the yard surrounding the house.

An eira [Spanish era, threshing floor, yard, or garden plot] is a flat, paved (or firm bare ground) area where grain is threshed or ground. The eira is often found close to the farmhouse, and even sometimes is part of it to the side or near the curral, to facilitate the transport and storage of agricultural products. Inevitably, it is almost adjacent to the hórreo and is usually in a clear site, without many trees to obstruct the action of the wind, which is necessary for the winnowing of grain. Sometimes, eira just refers to the yard around the house or a nearby garden plot.

A curral [Spanish corral; corral, farmyard] is fenced-in area adjacent to the farmhouse. Its various uses include storing hay, straw, potatoes, and other agricultural products; collecting chickens, pigs, or cattle during some hours of the day; and storing farming implements at night. It is usually square or rectangular and enclosed by a stone wall. In some villages, it is a small piece of land that lies between the house and the eira.

Because of the need to provide corn with some frequency, the hórreo is situated near an eira or vegetable garden of the house. The need to place it near the house makes it necessary to adapt the hórreo to the size and shape of the eira. It may also be in the curral.

Sometimes hórreos are mounted on walls appropriate to their size. These may be the walls of the eira or curral or just a fence around a yard. An hórreo may be placed over the entrance gate, or over a footpath. These high positions favor the ventilation of grain.

CHURCH

Hórreos were sometimes located near a monastery, church or rectory. This was for storing tithes in the form of grain.

GROUPS

When these modes near the house (or church) are not possible in an inhabited area, groups of hórreos appear on a communal field in the peripheral areas of the population center (town). This solution appears all over Galicia and northwestern Portugal, but especially often in Tierra de Montes, in the province of Ourense, and in certain coastal areas of A Coruña.

Grouping of hórreos in Carballeda de Avia in Galician province of Ourense (es.wikipedia.org).

Usually, groups invade communal areas that were once put to productive use, but were subsequently moved, bringing the storage space of the grain close to the place where it is ground. They are in open, well ventilated, and easily accessible places. Hórreos of different types may exist together in a group, and there often does not seem to be a pattern with respect to the orientation or materials. Sometimes, however, a group may be arranged with corners, as if it were an inhabited street.

In Lavandeira, in Aldea [village] de Imo (A Coruña province in central Galicia), for example, there is a group of 11 hórreos from the 18th century, currently restored although not currently in use.

Hórreos of Lavandeira in Imo (gl.wikipedia.org).

One of the largest groupings is in A Merca, in Ourense province, where there are 33 wooden hórreos and two mixed, newly renovated. They reflect the agricultural bounty of these lands and are all of the same type: wooden chambers with gabled tile roofs, and stone pillars consisting of “feet” or esteos. The fact that this is a close-grouped village meant that neighbors arranged this area to set up their canastros, seeking the best ventilation for their harvest, which also explains the uniform orientation.

Grouping of hórreos in A Merca (es.wikipedia.org).

In Combarro, in Pontevedra province, there are 30 hórreos—wood, stone, and mixed—in different sections according to the size of the hórreo. The rectangular, Galician-style hórreos have doors in one of the longer sides. The roofs are tiled, gabled, with pinnacles or crosses placed at the ends for decoration. They are supported by pillars of the same granite material, which in turn rest upon a ledge with an adjoining flight of steps.

In the grouping of hórreos in Combarro, there is not only a mixture of materials but a mixture of styles representing various subtypes of the Galician hórreo (see Appendix C, Subtypes of Galician Hórreo : Typological Classification).

Combination of hórreos of different types in Combarro (gl.wikipedia.org). 

Similar groupings appear in Portugal. In Portugal, hórreos are called espigueiros.

Grouping of stone espigueiros in Arcos de Valdevez, Soajo, Portugal (gl.wikipedia.org).

Groups of hórreos can also be found in Asturias. However, these are of the square type.

LEGAL STATUS

With the scale of modern agriculture, hórreos are no longer practical storage units, and are not constructed for farming use any more. Nevertheless, they remain as popular as ever, and having one on one’s property is seen as a bonus. Many property owners will also pay to have an old hórreo refurbished or a new one constructed, purely for show. Some of the Galician hórreos are considered historic and artistic monuments, such as the one at the rectory of Santa Comba de Carnota, built in 1768, or the group of hórreos in Combarro. However, some of the older hórreos are now in very poor condition and others have been converted to other uses. So the government has found it necessary to decree legal protection of the old hórreos that still exist.

Hórreo in ruins in San Cristovo de Cea (gl.wikipedia.org).

Hórreo in ruins in Santa Mariña (Don Madill).

Cabazo in Meaño - Many hórreos receive new uses (es.wikipedia.org).

In 1973, the Spanish state issued a decree for the protection of all existing hórreos and cabazos in Galicia and Asturias, trying to address the consequences of people abandoning the rural way of life and the loss of use of hórreos. Local governments were entrusted with the inventory and care of the granaries and preventing their dismantling or removal.

Further protection was provided by the 1985 Law and 1986 Royal Decree on Spanish Historical Heritage. The 1995 Law on Cultural Heritage of Galicia granted the Galician government exclusive power over “sites and movable and immovable property … that constitute relevant forms or expression of culture and traditional ways of life and the Galician people” in Galicia, including hórreos.

The number of hórreos in Galicia today is not completely documented, but it is estimated that it exceeds 10,000. According to other sources, it is estimated that in 2004, there were around 30,000 hórreos in Galicia.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRUBUTION

The area in which Galician hórreos are found roughly coincides with the boundaries of historic Galicia, with an exact match with the linguistic boundary to the east. They are mainly found in the northwest of Spain (most of Galicia and the western part of Asturias) and northern Portugal. The Galician hórreo exists in many subtypes, mostly typical of a particular geographic area (for more detail, see Appendix C, Subtypes of Galician Hórreo: Typological Classification). However, the mountainous areas of eastern Ourense province and the southeast quadrant of Lugo province in Galicia, as well as northeastern Portugal lack hórreos.

The hórreo was an indispensable construction in the rural life in the wet oceanic climate of the northern Iberian Peninsula. It was particularly abundant in Galicia, Asturias, and León, where the early arrival of a long, cold, and wet winter forced crops to be harvested early. Thus, although in different types and under different names, hórreos are found in Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias, Léon, Cantabria, the Basque Country, and Navarra. There are an estimated 30,000 preserved in Galicia, about 10,000 in Asturias, about 400 in León, about 30 in Cantabria, 20 in Navarra, and a few in Basque Country. In addition, there are an unspecified number of espigueiros in Portugal and also an unknown number of cabazos made of branches in Galicia. (For more detail, see Appendix D, Variants of Hórreo in Galicia and Beyond.)

SOURCES:

Information and photos were drawn from numerous Internet sources. However, the following were the primary sources for appendixes B, C, and D:

Sign about hórreos photographed at Moutrás on Sep 19, 2015.

Eladio Rodríguez González, Diccionario enciclopédico Galego-castellano, Galaxia, Vigo (1958-1961), cited in Dicionario de dicionarios: Corpus lexicográfico da lingua galega, from the Instituto de Lingua Galega, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela at   http://sli.uvigo.es/ddd/ddd_pescuda.php?pescuda=h%F3rreo&tipo_busca=lema.

“Grain stores or ‘Hórreos” under “Architectural Landmarks of Galicia Spain” in Galicia Guide at http://www.galiciaguide.com/Landmarks.html .

Articles on hórreo (Galego) in English, Spanish, and Galego versions of Wikipedia (The English version is shorter, and the Galego and Spanish versions largely overlap, although each contains some things the other does not).

“Hórreo” at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hórreo_galego .

“Hórreo” at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hórreo .

“Hórreo” at https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hórreo .

“Hórreo Galego” at https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hórreo_galego .

“Hórreo galego” at https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hórreo_galego  .

“Clasificación tipolóxica do hórreo galego” at https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clasificaci%C3%B3n_tipol%C3%B3xica_do_h%C3%B3rreo_galego  Clasificación tipolóxica do hórreo galego (in Galego); has more detail than English version.

http://www.galiciauniversal.org/urbanismo/arquitectura/horreos Hórreos (describes the parts of an hórreo).

http://horreosdegalicia.com/estilos “Estilos de Hórreos [Styles of Hórreos],” under “Hórreos de Galicia.” This site has a brief description and good photos of each type.. However, this website has a copyright notice: (C) TODA LA INFORMACIÓN DE ESTA PÁGINA ESTÁ PROTEGIDA POR DERECHOS DE AUTOR, SI SE QUIERE UTILIZAR CUALQUIER INFORMACIÓN DE LA MISMA DEBE PONERSE EN CONTACTO CON LOS AUTORES Y PEDIR AUTORIZACIÓN EXPRESA. [© All information of this page is protected by copyright. If anyone wants to use any information of the same, they should contact the authors and ask for express authorization.] Therefore, neither the photos nor text were incorporated into this blog, although the photos helped in correctly identifying photos from other sources and the text also helped in better understanding and/or translating information from other sources.

http://archilibre.org/tradition/HORRESPI/galicia/types/types.html “Hórreos de Galice: Principaux types” (in French).

http://ateneocorredoira.es/vila-dos-horreos/ in Galego: includes “Tipoloxía dos hórreos en Galicia” (partially based on gl.wikipedia.org).

http://faircompanies.com/news/view/el-horreo-iberico-simple-granero-o-microcasa-platonica/ “El hórreo ibérico: ¿simple granero o microcasa platónica? [The Iberian granary: a mere barn or platonic microgite?]” (in Spanish) describes origins and types.

http://www.bizkaia.eus/fitxategiak/04/ondarea/Kobie/PDF/5/Kobie_2_Antrpologia_cultural_%C2%ABCENSO%20Y%20CATALOGACION%20DE%20LOS%20HORREOS%20LEONESES%C2%BB%20%20po.pdf “Censo y Catalogación de los Hórreos Leoneses” by José Luis González Arpide (in Spanish) with drawings and history.

http://dspace.aestrada.com/jspui/bitstream/123456789/109/1/Horreos%20na%20galicia.pdf Hórreos na Galicia (in Galego). Discusses history, types, and parts.

http://www.wikiwand.com/gl/H%C3%B3rreo_berganti%C3%B1%C3%A1n This is the only source on the Bergantiños type, other than in Wikipedia’s typology (Galego version).

Looking for other info on hórreos, I tried just www.wikiwand.com and did search for “horreo,” which got their page on “Hórreo,” which is just an abbreviated version of the Wikipedia entry.

https://imaginacaoativa.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/os-diferentes-estilos-dos-horreos/ “Os diferentes estilos dos Hórreos” (in Portuguese).

http://www.walterjorge.com/novo/pages/curiosidades-do-caminho-05-96-horreos-celeiros-96-primeira-parte.php “Hórreos (Celeiros) - Primera Parte” (in Portuguese). These are part of a series “As Curiodidades do caminho.”

http://www.walterjorge.com/novo/pages/curiosidades-do-caminho-06-96-horreos-celeiros-96-segunda-parte.php “Hórreos (Celeiros) - Segunda Parte” (in Portuguese).

http://www.walterjorge.com/novo/pages/curiosidades-07---horreos-celeiros.php “Hórreos (Celeiros) - Parte Final” (in Portuguese).

http://www.castiellodebernueces.es/ento_horr_hist.html “Historia del Horreo y la Panera: Horreos y Paneras Asturianas.”

http://www.galiciaenteira.com/horreo-de-san-martino-de-ozon-muxia/ “Hórreo de San Martiño de Ozón – Muxía”

http://www.territoriomuseo.com/noticias/show/510-las-partes-del-horreo-iii-del-durmiente-al-obispo Las partes del hórreo III. Del “durmiente” al “obispo” [The parts of the hórreo III. The “base” to the “bishop”] that is, from bottom to top. (In Asturian Spanish). A detailed description of the construction and parts of the Asturian hórreo, with good photos.

http://mas.lne.es/diccionario Diccionario General de la Lengua Asturiana (DGLA). From La Nueva España. Type in Asturian word and click on Buscar (Search) for definition (in Spanish [or Asturian?]).

http://www.rutasnavarra.com/asp/asp_artic/5.asp Hóreos de Navarra. Description and photos of 3 subtypes of Navarran hórreos.

http://lasendadelhayedo.com/horreos-leoneses-lo-que-has-de-saber-sobre-ellos/ Hórreos leoneses: Lo que has de saber sobre ellos [Leonese hórreos: What you should know about them].