A Pazo is a type of Galician traditional house. Similar to a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

, pazos are usually located in the countryside, as former residences of important people in the community (formerly of kings and nobility). They were of crucial importance in the 17th to 19th centuries, related to rural and monastic architecture and the system of feudal organization, and they constituted a type of local management unit around which the life of the villagers revolved. Over time they become the social symbol and refuge of the noble class, which Otero Pedrayo portrayed in his novels in early 20th century. The pazo, as a traditional civil architectural structure, had associated a social network: the servants of the nobleman and the tributaries of the domain, who themselves came to live on the grounds of the pazo (mostly the former). A pazo usually consists of a main building surrounded by gardens, a dovecote and often include outbuildings such as small

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

s for religious celebrations. An example being the ''pazo de Cadro'' in Marin, the seat of the House of Romay, which had a chapel dedicated to Santa Barbara. The word ''pazo'' is a cognate of stately '' palace'', and comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''palatiu(m)''. As a curiosity, the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

word, close to the Galician language, to say ''palace'' is ''paço'' (instead of ''palácio''). In this regard, the

Paço Imperial The Paço Imperial (, ), or Imperial Palace, previously known as the Royal Palace of Rio de Janeiro and Palace of the Viceroys, is a historic building in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Paço Imperial was built in the 18th ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, built in the 18th century, is an example of the Portuguese counterpart of this type of building.

Gallery

File:PazoDaTrave.jpg, Pazo da Trave,

Viveiro Viveiro () is a town and municipality in the province of Lugo, in the northwestern Galician autonomous community of Spain. It borders on the Cantabric Sea, to the west of Xove and to the east of O Vicedo. It has a residential population of o ...

File:Pazo Baión.jpg,

Pazo Baión A Pazo is a type of Galician traditional house. Similar to a manor house, pazos are usually located in the countryside, as former residences of important people in the community (formerly of kings and nobility). They were of crucial importance in ...

Vilanova de Arousa Vilanova de Arousa is a municipality in Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also ca ...

File:Pazo de Pousadouro.JPG,

Pazo de Pousadouro A Pazo is a type of Galician traditional house. Similar to a manor house, pazos are usually located in the countryside, as former residences of important people in the community (formerly of kings and nobility). They were of crucial importance in ...

Redondela Redondela is a town in the province of Pontevedra, Galicia, northwestern Spain. The most famous icons of the village are its two major railway viaducts built in the nineteenth century. Due to these infrastructures Redondela is known under the nick ...

File:Pazo Pondal.jpg, Pazo Pondal,

Ponteceso Ponteceso is a municipality of northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It belongs to the comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in P ...

File:Cambados 060905 Pazo de Fefiñáns.jpg,

Pazo de Fefiñáns A Pazo is a type of Galician traditional house. Similar to a manor house, pazos are usually located in the countryside, as former residences of important people in the community (formerly of kings and nobility). They were of crucial importance in ...

Cambados Cambados is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the '' Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of t ...

File:Pazo de Oca.JPG,

Pazo de Oca A Pazo is a type of Galician traditional house. Similar to a manor house, pazos are usually located in the countryside, as former residences of important people in the community (formerly of kings and nobility). They were of crucial importance in ...

A Estrada A Estrada is a municipality of the Pontevedra province in Galicia in northwestern Spain. It is located some southeast of Santiago de Compostela. Etymology The name comes from the Latin word ''strata'', with the meaning of ''trodden earth, where ...

File:Pazo Bermúdez de Castro.jpg,

Pazo Bermúdez de Castro A Pazo is a type of Galician traditional house. Similar to a manor house, pazos are usually located in the countryside, as former residences of important people in the community (formerly of kings and nobility). They were of crucial importance in ...

Cotobade Cotobade is a former local country council in Galicia (Spain) in the province of Pontevedra. It bordered the municipalities of Campo Lameiro, Cerdedo, Forcarei, A Lama, Ponte Caldelas and Pontevedra. In 2011 its population was 4432 people, ...

File:Pazo de Leis, O Barro, A Baña.jpg,

Pazo de Leis A Pazo is a type of Galician traditional house. Similar to a manor house, pazos are usually located in the countryside, as former residences of important people in the community (formerly of kings and nobility). They were of crucial importance in ...

A Baña A Baña is a municipality in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It is 52 kilometers from the provincial capital of A Coruña. It has an area of 98.63 km², a population of 4,888 (2004 estim ...

File:Casa grande de lentille.JPG, Casa grande de lentille en

Cenlle Cenlle is a municipality in the province of Ourense Ourense (in Spanish, ''Orense'') is a Spanish province, in the southeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra to the west, Lugo to ...

File:Pazo de Mos-01-1.jpg, Pazo de Mos, Mos File:Pontevedra, Galiza. Pazo de Lourizán.jpg, Pazo de Lourizán,

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the '' Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality wh ...

File:Pazo do Piñeiro.jpg, Pazo do Piñeiro, en Pesqueiras,

Chantada Chantada, is a municipality in the province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain. Chantada is situated on the left bank of the Río Asma, a small right-hand tributary of the Minho river, and on the main road from Ourense, 29 km S. by W., to Lugo, 45&n ...

. File:San_Miguel_das_Penas_Pazo_e_Torre.JPG, Tower and pazo de San Miguel das Penas,

Monterroso Monterroso is a municipality in Lugo province in Galicia in north-west Spain. History Monterroso was the seat of an important '' tenencia'' in medieval Galicia. Among its known tenants were: *Suero Vermúdez (''c''.1100) *Gutierre Vermúdez (1 ...

Gallery

See also