A palloza (also known as pallouza or pallaza) is a traditional dwelling of the
Serra dos Ancares
The Serra dos Ancares (Spanish: ''Sierra de los Ancares'', also known as ''Sierra de Ancares'') is a mountain range of the Galician Massif in north-west Spain, extending in a south-westerly direction from the western end of the Cantabrian Mountain ...
of northwest
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Structure
A palloza is a traditional
thatched
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
house as found in Leonese county of
El Bierzo
El Bierzo (; ; gl, O Bierzo) is a ''comarca'' in the province of León, Spain. Its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital.
The territory of El Bierzo includes m ...
,
Serra dos Ancares
The Serra dos Ancares (Spanish: ''Sierra de los Ancares'', also known as ''Sierra de Ancares'') is a mountain range of the Galician Massif in north-west Spain, extending in a south-westerly direction from the western end of the Cantabrian Mountain ...
in
Galicia, and south-west of
Asturias
Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in nor ...
; corresponding to
Astur
The Astures or Asturs, also named Astyrs, were the Hispano-Celtic language, Hispano-Celtic inhabitants of the northwest area of Hispania that now comprises almost the entire modern autonomous community of Principality of Asturias, the modern prov ...
tribes area, one of pre Hispano-Celtic inhabitants of northwest Hispania. It is circular or oval, and about ten or twenty metres in diameter and is built to withstand severe winter weather at a typical altitude of 1,200 metres.
The main structure is stone, and is divided internally into separate areas for the family and their animals, with separate entrances. The roof is conical, made from
rye straw on a wooden frame. There is no chimney, the smoke from the kitchen fire seeps out through the thatch.
As well as living space for humans and animals, a palloza has its own bread oven, workshops for wood, metal and leather work, and a loom. Only the eldest couple of an extended family had their own bedroom, which they shared with the youngest children. The rest of the family slept in the hay loft, in the roof space.
Origin
The palloza is pre-Roman. Pallozas have similarities with the round houses of the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
such as
Chysauster
Chysauster Ancient Village ( kw, Chisylvester, meaning ''Sylvester's house'') is a late Iron Age and Romano-British village of courtyard houses in Cornwall, United Kingdom, which is currently in the care of English Heritage. The village included e ...
in Cornwall and the buildings of the
Castro culture
Castro culture ( gl, cultura castrexa, pt, cultura castreja, ast, cultura castriega, es, cultura castreña, meaning "culture of the hillforts") is the archaeological term for the material culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Pen ...
. The fictive village of
Asterix
''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, wi ...
is composed in part by pallozas.
Its name is actually a corruption of the
Galician word "pallaza", first used in the late 19th century by
ethnographer
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
s such as German Fritz Krüger, who was referring to the material used to make the roof. The traditional name of these buildings is in fact ''casa de teito'' or ''casa de teitu''.
The term ''palloza'' (spelled
palhoça
Palhoça is a municipality in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
History
Palhoça was founded in 1793, when the city was part of the way between Lages and Florianópolis in order to protect the capital state from possible invasions. Its name comes from " ...
) is also used in the
Portuguese language
Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and ...
, where it describes a type of small cabin built with wood and thatched roof.
Today
Pallozas were used until the second half of the 20th century, when improved communications brought modern building concepts to the area. Pallozas survive in
Galicia, comarca of Os Ancares, and in several areas of
Candín
Candín () is a village and municipality located in the region of El Bierzo (province of León, Castile and León, Spain) . According to the 2010 census ( INE), the municipality has a population of 310 inhabitants.
It is one of Galician speaking ...
and western
Asturias
Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in nor ...
. The remarkable pallozas in the
Bierzan town of Campo del Agua was largely destroyed by a fire in the mid 1980s. The most famous may be that of
Piornedo Piornedo is a small village in the Ancares mountains in Spain located at a height of approximately 1,300 metres. The village is part of the parish of Donis (official name San Fiz de Donis), which is located in the municipality of Cervantes, in the ...
, which since the 1970s has been an ethnographic museum. New pallozas are used mainly as holiday homes, even in remote areas, where they were not traditionally used.
See also
*
Roundhouse (dwelling)
A roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, usually with a conical roof. In the later part of the 20th century, modern designs of roundhouse eco-buildings were constructed with materials such as cob, cordwood or straw bale walls and ...
*
Rondavel
Rondavel is a style of African hut known in literature as ''cone on cylinder'' or ''cone on drum.'' The word comes from the Afrikaans ''rondawel''.
Description
The rondavel is usually round or oval in shape and is traditionally made with materia ...
References
External links
Pictures and information about the "Casa do Sesto", palloza museum at Piornedo
{{Huts
House types
Prehistoric Europe
Architecture in Spain
Spanish culture
Vernacular architecture