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 Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

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 Otero is a Spanish surname, and an occasional given name, derived from the Spanish word for height, and indicating a family history of having come from a geographically high place.Richard Donovon Woods, Grace Alvarez-Altman, ''Spanish surnames in ...

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 Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...

, the seat of the

House of Romay The Romay family (Spanish: ''Casa de Romay'') is a Spanish aristocratic family that descends from 8th-century pre-Reconquista Galicia, in northern Spain. According to historians, the family descends from Román de Romae, Count of Monterroso and ...

, which had a chapel dedicated to Santa Barbara. The word ''pazo'' is a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

of stately ''

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

'', 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 b ...

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

Gallery

File:PazoDaTrave.jpg,

Pazo da Trave 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 ...

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 ove ...

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, 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, ...

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 nic ...

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. It is known for its historical monuments, its seafood and the famous white wine, Albariño. Culture Fishing is a major industry in this coastal area of Galicia ...

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, accor ...

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 in the Galicia region of north-west Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultr ...

File:Pazo de Mos-01-1.jpg, Pazo de Mos,

Mos MOS or Mos may refer to: Technology * MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor), also known as the MOS transistor * Mathematical Optimization Society * Model output statistics, a weather-forecasting technique * MOS (filmm ...

File:Pontevedra, Galiza. Pazo de Lourizán.jpg,

Pazo de Lourizán The Palace of Lourizán is a manor house in Herbalonga in the civil parish of Lourizán, in Pontevedra, Spain. History In the 15th century this property was transformed into a farm. The circular crenellated dovecote dates from this period. I ...

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 whi ...

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