The Hórreos of Valdeón
Popular architecture of the Leonese mountain
The Hórreos of Valdeón
Popular architecture of the Leonese mountain
The hórreos, popular architecture of the Valdeón Valley
The hórreos are wooden constructions intended for the storage and conservation of crops that isolated the space from the humidity and the presence of animals. They are a beautiful example of the traditional popular architecture present in the rural environment of the whole North of the Iberian Peninsula, presenting a common structure with different pecualiaridades depending on the area.
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE
The Hórreos of Valdeón
The hórreo is a construction of possibly pre-Romanesque origin, although the date of its appearance cannot be precisely specified. It is an essential element with its own identity in those areas of the north where the climate is very unstable. This has motivated it to be the most traditional construction of the mountain villages of the Valdeón Valley, presenting its structure adaptations of different influences of the neighboring regions.
It is a building generally with a quadrangular or slightly rectangular plan, separated from the land where it sits by means of four pillars of stone or wood of pyramidal shape, called “pegollos”. Each of them is crowned with a large circular stone called “tornarratas”, with the mission of avoiding the access of rodents to the interior, since its outgoing shape does not allow these and other animals to climb.
Typologies
For their typology the hórreos that can be seen in the Valley of Valdeón are associated both to the hórreo of Asturian influence, of square plant and covered to four waters with a vertical arrangement of their wooden boards, like the hórreo leonés, of rectangular plan and covered to two waters with a horizontal placement of the panels of the walls, more common in the mountain east leonesa and that would reflect influence of the Cantabrian hórreos.
For its construction in the Valdeón Valley was used wood that was available at any time, and for that reason we find many mixed specimens. This great variety of styles has become one more attraction of the valley.
The Hórreos of Valdeón
The hórreo is a construction of possibly pre-Romanesque origin, although the date of its appearance cannot be precisely specified. It is an essential element with its own identity in those areas of the north where the climate is very unstable. This has motivated it to be the most traditional construction of the mountain villages of the Valdeón Valley, presenting its structure adaptations of different influences of the neighboring regions.
It is a building generally with a quadrangular or slightly rectangular plan, separated from the land where it sits by means of four pillars of stone or wood of pyramidal shape, called “pegollos”. Each of them is crowned with a large circular stone called “tornarratas”, with the mission of avoiding the access of rodents to the interior, since its outgoing shape does not allow these and other animals to climb.
Typologies
For their typology the hórreos that can be seen in the Valley of Valdeón are associated both to the hórreo of Asturian influence, of square plant and covered to four waters with a vertical arrangement of their wooden boards, like the hórreo leonés, of rectangular plan and covered to two waters with a horizontal placement of the panels of the walls, more common in the mountain east leonesa and that would reflect influence of the Cantabrian hórreos.
For its construction in the Valdeón Valley was used wood that was available at any time, and for that reason we find many mixed specimens. This great variety of styles has become one more attraction of the valley.
Currently in the valley there are about 80 specimens distributed in the eight villages, and they are declared BIC (Good of Cultural Interest) by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Junta de Castilla y León.
Archaic Hórreos of Soto and Prada de Valdeón
In addition to the most widespread types in the valley, in the localities of Soto and Prada de Valdeón are conserved some hórreos of special interest. These are specimens that experts classify as archaic hórreo, characterized by the solution adopted to solve their box, based on thick horizontal planks, of very rustic invoice, which are assembled at their ends by means of recesses on each of them.
Only five examples of archaic hórreos are preserved in the province of León, and three of them are in the Valdeón Valley, two in the town of Soto de Valdeón and one in the town of Prada.
