Baserri
Encyclopedia
A baserri is a traditional type of half-timbered or stone-built farmhouse
found in the Basque Country in Northern Spain
and Southwestern France. The baserris, with their gently sloping roofs and entrace portals, are highly characteristic of the region and form a vital part in traditional Basque societal structures. They are also seen to have played an important role in protecting the Basque language in periods of persecution by providing the language with a very dispersed but substantial speaker base.
The present-day term baserri in Basque has a fairly restricted meaning, denoting the building and its occupants, especially in the Gipuzkoan
dialect. Originally, however, it denoted the building (still called in some places baserri-etxea 'baserri house'), its dwellers and the whole estate. The originally wide connotation of the term is related to the inherent ambiguity of the Basque word herri which can be translated as "land", "home", "people" or "settlement" depending on the context.
In Spanish, mostly the term caserío vasco is used but note that a caserío may also denote an entire settlement in parts of the Spanish speaking world. In French
, the term maison basque is commonly encountered, although this overlaps to some extent with the Basque concept of etxea (the house).
Overall, they are almost non-existent in the flatter terrains of Álava
and central and southern Navarre
(Ager Vasconum). These areas went through a more thorough period of Romanisation, in which the ancient Roman fundi provided the grounds for the new small population clusters and villages that dotted the whole region at the turn of the first millennium, after Muslim raids stopped. They are often named after an old landowner, e.g. Barbarin, Andoin, Amatrain, etc. In Navarre, parts of Álava and parts of the Northern Basque Country, baserris often form rather spaced out settlements, but virtually never wall-to-wall to minimise fire risks. Baserris in Gipuzkoa and Biscay
on the whole are solitary buildings, but generally within view of another baserri.
The predecessor of the baserri was the farming community of the late Middle Ages in the hilly Atlantic area, who at one point had learnt and taken up sowing and harvesting (cf. the legend of San Martin Txiki
). The families didn't live in baserri buildings as we know today, but in clusters of small wooden fragile shacks with room enough for the family, the cattle and the stored hay. However, the press house, granaries, pigsty and sheepfolds were located in separate buildings. At this stage, the baserri stands clearly for the whole community behind the economic unit. This period also saw the development of the linguistic counterpart to the baserri for religious matters, the baseliza or "wild church".
During the 14th and 15th century, as the population began to grow, agricultural activity increased and so did the linking of agricultural activities and animal husbandry on a baserri, leading to an increase in the number of baserris. The late 15th and the 16th century are a period of peace among warring nobiliary factions after years of clashes, in which exactions and abuses on farmers had been rife, leading to a time of optimism and stability. The American and Andalusian conquest opened new opportunities, with small fortunes made by Basque venturers, which propelled the construction of baserris, thriving in the hundreds. While private land ownership had been known if not widespread in the southern parts of Álava and Navarre since Roman times, most land further north was still common land
in this period. Councils fostered the building activity with tax exemption on tree chopping for baserri construction, which enabled Basque farmers to develop swathes of common land into privately owned baserris.
At this transitional stage, the baserri buildings consisted of timbered structures that are barely reminiscent of dwellings, made up often in oak from the surrounding forests. In fact, the central position in the house was occupied by the press, since cider was a very important economic activity for the family's economy. Then, families started to move in for the initially cider producing mill
, cattle stall and granary, eventually complementing or even replacing its original function with the dwelling. A well-known example of this type of baserri is the Igartubeiti baserri (built 1530), now an interactive museum and exhibition space, hosting events related to cider making (e.g. txalaparta
) and traditional rural live.
The first stone farmhouses in Gipuzkoa (which entailed timber frames anyway) were built during the 15the century and brought admiration and envy from their neighbours. Only the richest farmers could permit themselves the luxury of building a house “de cal y canto”, paying a team of stonemasons who dug out and worked the stone. Oakwood was, on the other had, cheap and available. The increased building activity led to some of the earliest recorded environmental law
s concerning de-
and reforestation
, such as the law passed by the Batzar
of Azkoitia
in 1657 which forbade the cutting of young trees and required anyone felling a tree to plant two new trees in its place.
In the Northern Basque Country
these are often called borda, a term that originally referred to shepherding shelters. The extension, both structurally and terminologically, of the term to refer to a farmhouse rather than shelter occurred in the 17th and 18th century when further increases in the population led to the development of such summer pasture shelters into farmhouses.
The 17th century is also the last period in which baserris with half-timbered façades were constructed. Later constructions are virtually all in solid stone (except for the central section above the recessed portal to avoid structural problems). From the 18th century onwards, the remaining half-timbered elements were replaced by using stone arches above the entrances.
The baserri traditionally cannot be divided or inherited by more than one person. This is still the case in the Southern Basque Country
but the introduction of the Napoleonic Code
in France, under which such practices are illegal, greatly upset this tradition in the North. Although the Basques in the north chose to be "creative" with the new laws, it overall resulted in the breakup and ultimate financial ruin of many baserris.
In practice the tradition of not breaking up baserris meant that the remaining children had to marry into another baserri, stay on the family baserri as unmarried employees or make their own way in the world.
As such, most baserris have a large stone-carved sign built into the front wall called armarriak (crest-stones) and a decorative lintel stone above the entrace called ate-buru or atalburu
(door head). The lintel stone usually states who built the house and the year it was built in. The armarria either states the name of the village or valley or the family's surname and is often in the style of a coat of arms
. The latter practice of displaying the surname is mostly found in the Southern Basque Country. Both are often also carved with Basque symbols, many of them pre-Christian, such as the lauburu
, animals, plants and mythical figures.
Many Basque surnames
stem from place-names and more especially from baserris. However, these surnames are deceptively older than the baserri-etxe, i.e. the baserri building, referring to the community and site preceding the building.
A considerable number also have apple-presses and barrel storage facilities built into the structure of the baserri for the production of Basque cider
.
The conventional floor distribution usually has:
.
Although commonly encountered on the ground floor, it is not uncommon for kitchens to be located on the 1st floor. If this was the case in the colder regions of the Basque Country, the compulsory bread oven
was built on a little balcony
, with only the opening facing into the kitchen to minimise fire risks. In the more temperate regions, the bread oven was usually separate from the main baserri building.
made from beechwood but today in most regions baserri have tiled roofs. The Basque surname Telletxea (the roofed house) is seen to stem from that era when terracotta tiles replaced the earlier shingled roofs and the first person to have a tiled roof being singled out for this fact. Wood-shingle roofs mainly survive in the mountaineous parts of Navarre
and Soule
suffering from high snowfall, as wooden roofs allow for more steeply angled roofs which prevent buildup of snow.
The eaves
are characteristically large, in particular on the front façades, but usually much smaller or non-existent on the opposite side. To reduce wind resistance, the north-facing aspect of the roof is often built in a style called miru-buztana (kite
tail) - essentially a hip-roof.
) and irrespective of the views. Along with the disappearance of half-timbered façades in the 18th Century, the portals which were originally built in wood gradually disappeared and were replaced by stone-built portals.
The wood in half-timbered façades was traditionally stained red with a paint made from olive oil, ochre
and ox blood, although today commercial paints are often used. The white between the timbers was achieved by painting the surface with lime plaster
.
The portal (ataria in Basque) had a central role in the everyday life of the baserritarras, being home to activities ranging from a wide variety of social activities to grinding flour and animal slaughtering.
In areas where baserris grouped together in loose settlements, the portal was transformed into a large doorway, usually with a two-wing door which was also split horizontally.
called garai in Basque. These are small, wooden or stone-built structures on staddle stones
and very reminiscent of such granaries in other parts of the world.
of Biscay and Gipuzkoa ordering the tower house
s (dorretxeak in Basque) razed following centuries of Basque partisan wars. Many were converted into non-military buildings, resulting in rather unusual baserris.
and pastoral
activities formed the mainstay of the inhabitants of a baserri but due to recent economic and societal changes, agrotourism has also become a major activity on baserris.
One is the habit of fixing dried silver thistles
(called eguzkilore or "sunflower" in Basque) to the doors of a baserri for good fortune. Folklore has it that certain unwelcome spirits such as laminas, witches or devils only operate at night and attaching this flower to the door would lead these beings to assume the sun was shining on the baserri and therefore stay away. By a similar extension of belief, they were also supposed to protect against lightning strikes and storm damage.
Farmhouse
Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T...
found in the Basque Country in Northern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Southwestern France. The baserris, with their gently sloping roofs and entrace portals, are highly characteristic of the region and form a vital part in traditional Basque societal structures. They are also seen to have played an important role in protecting the Basque language in periods of persecution by providing the language with a very dispersed but substantial speaker base.
Origins and historical development
The term baserri is derived from the roots basa "wild" and herri "settlement" and denotes a farmstead not located in a village or town. People who live on a baserri are referred to as baserritarrak, a term which contrasts with kaletarrak (street people) aka people who live in a town or city.The present-day term baserri in Basque has a fairly restricted meaning, denoting the building and its occupants, especially in the Gipuzkoan
Gipuzkoan
Gipuzkoan is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in the province of Gipuzkoa in Basque Country but also in a small part of Navarre. It is a central dialect, spoken in the central and eastern part of Gipuzkoa...
dialect. Originally, however, it denoted the building (still called in some places baserri-etxea 'baserri house'), its dwellers and the whole estate. The originally wide connotation of the term is related to the inherent ambiguity of the Basque word herri which can be translated as "land", "home", "people" or "settlement" depending on the context.
In Spanish, mostly the term caserío vasco is used but note that a caserío may also denote an entire settlement in parts of the Spanish speaking world. In French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, the term maison basque is commonly encountered, although this overlaps to some extent with the Basque concept of etxea (the house).
Overall, they are almost non-existent in the flatter terrains of Álava
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
and central and southern Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
(Ager Vasconum). These areas went through a more thorough period of Romanisation, in which the ancient Roman fundi provided the grounds for the new small population clusters and villages that dotted the whole region at the turn of the first millennium, after Muslim raids stopped. They are often named after an old landowner, e.g. Barbarin, Andoin, Amatrain, etc. In Navarre, parts of Álava and parts of the Northern Basque Country, baserris often form rather spaced out settlements, but virtually never wall-to-wall to minimise fire risks. Baserris in Gipuzkoa and Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
on the whole are solitary buildings, but generally within view of another baserri.
The predecessor of the baserri was the farming community of the late Middle Ages in the hilly Atlantic area, who at one point had learnt and taken up sowing and harvesting (cf. the legend of San Martin Txiki
San Martin Txiki
San Martin Txiki is the Trickster figure from Basque mythology. "Txiki" means "little" in an affectionate sense. San Martin is often called simply "Martintxiki" or "Samartitxiki". He stole the secrets of planting, sowing, and harvesting from the Basajaunak...
). The families didn't live in baserri buildings as we know today, but in clusters of small wooden fragile shacks with room enough for the family, the cattle and the stored hay. However, the press house, granaries, pigsty and sheepfolds were located in separate buildings. At this stage, the baserri stands clearly for the whole community behind the economic unit. This period also saw the development of the linguistic counterpart to the baserri for religious matters, the baseliza or "wild church".
During the 14th and 15th century, as the population began to grow, agricultural activity increased and so did the linking of agricultural activities and animal husbandry on a baserri, leading to an increase in the number of baserris. The late 15th and the 16th century are a period of peace among warring nobiliary factions after years of clashes, in which exactions and abuses on farmers had been rife, leading to a time of optimism and stability. The American and Andalusian conquest opened new opportunities, with small fortunes made by Basque venturers, which propelled the construction of baserris, thriving in the hundreds. While private land ownership had been known if not widespread in the southern parts of Álava and Navarre since Roman times, most land further north was still common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
in this period. Councils fostered the building activity with tax exemption on tree chopping for baserri construction, which enabled Basque farmers to develop swathes of common land into privately owned baserris.
At this transitional stage, the baserri buildings consisted of timbered structures that are barely reminiscent of dwellings, made up often in oak from the surrounding forests. In fact, the central position in the house was occupied by the press, since cider was a very important economic activity for the family's economy. Then, families started to move in for the initially cider producing mill
Sagardotegi
A sagardotegi is a type of cider house found in the Basque Country. Modern sagardotegis can broadly be described as a cross between a steakhouse and a cider house....
, cattle stall and granary, eventually complementing or even replacing its original function with the dwelling. A well-known example of this type of baserri is the Igartubeiti baserri (built 1530), now an interactive museum and exhibition space, hosting events related to cider making (e.g. txalaparta
Txalaparta
The txalaparta is a specialized Basque music device of wood or stone, similar to Romanian toacă. In Basque, zalaparta means "racket", while in the nearby areas of Navarre "txalaparta" has been attested as meaning the trot of the horse, a sense closely related to the sound of the...
) and traditional rural live.
The first stone farmhouses in Gipuzkoa (which entailed timber frames anyway) were built during the 15the century and brought admiration and envy from their neighbours. Only the richest farmers could permit themselves the luxury of building a house “de cal y canto”, paying a team of stonemasons who dug out and worked the stone. Oakwood was, on the other had, cheap and available. The increased building activity led to some of the earliest recorded environmental law
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
s concerning de-
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
and reforestation
Reforestation
Reforestation is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands that have been depleted, usually through deforestation....
, such as the law passed by the Batzar
Elizate
Elizate is a Basque term that refers to an early form of local government in the Basque Country which was particularly common in Biscay but also existed in the other provinces. It literally translates as "church door"...
of Azkoitia
Azkoitia
Azkoitia is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, in the northern Spain...
in 1657 which forbade the cutting of young trees and required anyone felling a tree to plant two new trees in its place.
In the Northern Basque Country
Northern Basque Country
The French Basque Country or Northern Basque Country situated within the western part of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques constitutes the north-eastern part of the Basque Country....
these are often called borda, a term that originally referred to shepherding shelters. The extension, both structurally and terminologically, of the term to refer to a farmhouse rather than shelter occurred in the 17th and 18th century when further increases in the population led to the development of such summer pasture shelters into farmhouses.
The 17th century is also the last period in which baserris with half-timbered façades were constructed. Later constructions are virtually all in solid stone (except for the central section above the recessed portal to avoid structural problems). From the 18th century onwards, the remaining half-timbered elements were replaced by using stone arches above the entrances.
Significance
A baserri represents the core unit of traditional Basque society, as the ancestral home of a family. Traditionally, the household is administered by the etxekoandre (lady of the house) and the etxekojaun (master of the house), each with distinctly defined rights, roles and responsibilities. When the couple reaches a certain age upon which they wish to retire, the baserri is formally handed over to a child. Unusually, the parents were by tradition free to choose any child, male or female, firstborn or later born, to assume the role of etxekoandre or etxekojaun to ensure the child most suitable to the role would inherit the ancestral home.The baserri traditionally cannot be divided or inherited by more than one person. This is still the case in the Southern Basque Country
Southern Basque Country
The Southern Basque Country is a term used to refer to the Basque territories within Spain as a unified whole.It does not exist as a political unit but includes the three provinces and two enclaves of the Basque Autonomous Community in the west, as well as the Chartered Community of Navarre to...
but the introduction of the Napoleonic Code
Napoleonic code
The Napoleonic Code — or Code Napoléon — is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified...
in France, under which such practices are illegal, greatly upset this tradition in the North. Although the Basques in the north chose to be "creative" with the new laws, it overall resulted in the breakup and ultimate financial ruin of many baserris.
In practice the tradition of not breaking up baserris meant that the remaining children had to marry into another baserri, stay on the family baserri as unmarried employees or make their own way in the world.
As such, most baserris have a large stone-carved sign built into the front wall called armarriak (crest-stones) and a decorative lintel stone above the entrace called ate-buru or atalburu
Atalburu
thumb|250px|Saubat de Arraidou et Maria de Hiriart 1743Atalburu in [[Lower Navarre]] with a [[lauburu]] and founders' namesthumb|250px|Iesus Maria Ioseph hilçiaz orhoitg-ziten Ionnes de Urtiaga, Martin d'Errecalde et Maria d'Errecalde, 1727...
(door head). The lintel stone usually states who built the house and the year it was built in. The armarria either states the name of the village or valley or the family's surname and is often in the style of a coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
. The latter practice of displaying the surname is mostly found in the Southern Basque Country. Both are often also carved with Basque symbols, many of them pre-Christian, such as the lauburu
Lauburu
The lauburu or Basque cross has four comma-shaped heads similar to the Japanese tomoe. It can be constructed with a compass and straightedge, beginning with the formation of a square template; each head can be drawn from a neighboring vertex of this template with two compass settings, with one...
, animals, plants and mythical figures.
Many Basque surnames
Basque surnames
Basque surnames on the whole are easily identifiable, reasonably well documented and follow a small number of set patterns. The vast majority of all Basque surnames are not patronymic , or based on personal features but refer to the family's etxea, the historically all important family home.When a...
stem from place-names and more especially from baserris. However, these surnames are deceptively older than the baserri-etxe, i.e. the baserri building, referring to the community and site preceding the building.
A considerable number also have apple-presses and barrel storage facilities built into the structure of the baserri for the production of Basque cider
Sagardotegi
A sagardotegi is a type of cider house found in the Basque Country. Modern sagardotegis can broadly be described as a cross between a steakhouse and a cider house....
.
Structure
Although different building styles exist with features specific to each region, most share a common core design. Most have three floors with stables within the building and a gently sloping roof, stone supporting walls and internal constructions made largely from wood.Basic types
The baserri is designed to be modular in the sense that additional wings can be added onto the primary structure to allow the building to be extended if necessary. The core building is referred to as biarriko ("two stone one"), comprising two main supporting walls; a hiruharriko ("three stone one") with an extension on one side and a lauarriko ("four stone one") with two extensions, one on either side of the original building.Floorplan
The floorplan is almost invariably rectangular, with a narrow end forming the façade. The façade usually has windows on all three floors and at least one large entrace, often two.The conventional floor distribution usually has:
- The stables for cattle on the ground floor on one side of the building, the kitchen, washroom and sitting room on the other
- Sleeping quarters on the first floor, usually above the stable to minimise the need for heating. On the outside, this floor often also has one or more balconies.
- A large attic for storing produce and indoor activities requiring more space; this attic space is often open or partially open to the outside on the front of the house to ensure ventilation.
Kitchen and ovens
Indoors, the kitchen (sukalde in Basque) was the centre of activity and social interaction. Originally the fire was located in the centre of the kitchen (similar to Scottish blackhouses) with a wall-mounted iron rotatable arm but were eventually replaced by fireplaces built into the wall with a chimneyChimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
.
Although commonly encountered on the ground floor, it is not uncommon for kitchens to be located on the 1st floor. If this was the case in the colder regions of the Basque Country, the compulsory bread oven
Masonry oven
A masonry oven, colloquially known as a brick oven or stone oven, is an oven consisting of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, or clay. Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were common in the 19th century, modern masonry ovens are often fired with natural gas or...
was built on a little balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
, with only the opening facing into the kitchen to minimise fire risks. In the more temperate regions, the bread oven was usually separate from the main baserri building.
Roof
Historically, the roofing material was wood shinglesRoof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
made from beechwood but today in most regions baserri have tiled roofs. The Basque surname Telletxea (the roofed house) is seen to stem from that era when terracotta tiles replaced the earlier shingled roofs and the first person to have a tiled roof being singled out for this fact. Wood-shingle roofs mainly survive in the mountaineous parts of Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
and Soule
Soule
Soule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département...
suffering from high snowfall, as wooden roofs allow for more steeply angled roofs which prevent buildup of snow.
The eaves
Eaves
The eaves of a roof are its lower edges. They usually project beyond the walls of the building to carry rain water away.-Etymology:"Eaves" is derived from Old English and is both the singular and plural form of the word.- Function :...
are characteristically large, in particular on the front façades, but usually much smaller or non-existent on the opposite side. To reduce wind resistance, the north-facing aspect of the roof is often built in a style called miru-buztana (kite
Kite (bird)
Kites are raptors with long wings and weak legs which spend a great deal of time soaring. Most feed mainly on carrion but some take various amounts of live prey.They are birds of prey which, along with hawks and eagles, are from the family Accipitridae....
tail) - essentially a hip-roof.
Entrance portal and façade
On older baserris, the entrance portal can take up up to a third of the façade's surface, often requiring one or more supporting pillars. It almost invariably faces south-east (i.e. opposite to the weather sideWindward and leeward
Windward is the direction upwind from the point of reference. Leeward is the direction downwind from the point of reference. The side of a ship that is towards the leeward is its lee side. If the vessel is heeling under the pressure of the wind, this will be the "lower side"...
) and irrespective of the views. Along with the disappearance of half-timbered façades in the 18th Century, the portals which were originally built in wood gradually disappeared and were replaced by stone-built portals.
The wood in half-timbered façades was traditionally stained red with a paint made from olive oil, ochre
Ochre
Ochre is the term for both a golden-yellow or light yellow brown color and for a form of earth pigment which produces the color. The pigment can also be used to create a reddish tint known as "red ochre". The more rarely used terms "purple ochre" and "brown ochre" also exist for variant hues...
and ox blood, although today commercial paints are often used. The white between the timbers was achieved by painting the surface with lime plaster
Lime plaster
Lime plaster is type of plaster composed of hydrated lime, sand and water. Lime plaster is similar to Lime mortar, the main difference is the based on use rather than composition. Traditional lime plaster contains also horse hair to reinforce plaster....
.
The portal (ataria in Basque) had a central role in the everyday life of the baserritarras, being home to activities ranging from a wide variety of social activities to grinding flour and animal slaughtering.
In areas where baserris grouped together in loose settlements, the portal was transformed into a large doorway, usually with a two-wing door which was also split horizontally.
Granaries
Although on most baserris produce is stored inside the main building, some have stand-alone granariesGranary
A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...
called garai in Basque. These are small, wooden or stone-built structures on staddle stones
Staddle stones
Staddle stones were originally used as supporting bases for granaries, hayricks, game larders, etc. The staddle stones lifted the granaries above the ground thereby protecting the stored grain from vermin and water seepage...
and very reminiscent of such granaries in other parts of the world.
Tower farmhouses
Some baserris seem to defy the normal definition of a baserri. In many cases, these are the result of the Juntas GeneralesJuntas Generales
The Juntas Generales are representative assemblies in the Southern Basque Country that go back to the 14th century. The three main Juntas Generals in the Basque Country were - and are - the Juntas Generales of Biscay, the Juntas Generales of Gipuzkoa and the Juntas Generales of Álava.They were...
of Biscay and Gipuzkoa ordering the tower house
Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
s (dorretxeak in Basque) razed following centuries of Basque partisan wars. Many were converted into non-military buildings, resulting in rather unusual baserris.
Modern developments
Traditionally, agriculturalAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
activities formed the mainstay of the inhabitants of a baserri but due to recent economic and societal changes, agrotourism has also become a major activity on baserris.
Traditions and superstitions
Various cultural traditions and superstitions surround the baserri.One is the habit of fixing dried silver thistles
Carlina acaulis
Carlina acaulis is a perennial dicotyledonous flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to alpine regions of central and southern Europe...
(called eguzkilore or "sunflower" in Basque) to the doors of a baserri for good fortune. Folklore has it that certain unwelcome spirits such as laminas, witches or devils only operate at night and attaching this flower to the door would lead these beings to assume the sun was shining on the baserri and therefore stay away. By a similar extension of belief, they were also supposed to protect against lightning strikes and storm damage.
External links
- The Igartubeiti baserri museum
- http://www.nekatur.netAssociation for Agrotourism in the Autonomous Basque CommunityBasque Country (autonomous community)The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
] - http://www.turismoruralnavarra.comAssociation for Agrotourism in NavarreNavarreNavarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
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