The granaries

The hórreos (lat. horreum) of Galicia are one of the most emblematic popular constructions in our country, a reflection of architecture and rural life. These adjectival constructions, used to store and dry corn grain, form part of our landscape and our cultural identity. In Taboexa and in the Condado region they are mostly called ‘canastros’ because, in the past, the walls of the chamber were made of wickerwork or twisted sticks. Among the wide diversity of hórreos found in Galicia, those in the Condado region stand out for their mixed typology, combining stone and wood, a characteristic that reflects the adaptation of the design to our geographical and climatic conditions and the economic capacity of their promoters. A lesser part of the canastros, those promoted by the wealthiest families, were built entirely of granite.

Three-compartment granary with a sundial in Moreira.

Symbol of popular architecture

Of medieval origin, the canastro is a granary raised on granite feet used to protect the harvests from damp and rodents. Galician hórreos are distinguished by their rectangular-shaped chamber, mostly made of stone and wood. It is also common for their crown to be decorated with crosses, pinnacles and even sundials. In Galicia, the cultural importance of hórreos is such that those built before 1901 were declared assets of cultural interest (BIC), the highest level of protection provided by law. In addition, according to legal regulations, hórreos, together with stone crosses, crosses for the dead, crosses of the dead, crosses of the municipal district and the petos de ánimas form part of the ethnological heritage of our country. The structure of the ‘canastros’ is always raised on columns, feet or stone pillars, which responds to the need to isolate the chamber from the ground, thus preventing humidity and facilitating the circulation of air to dry the grain. Between the chamber and the feet are the tornarratos, flat or circular stones designed to prevent access by rodents.

Parts of a granary

A construction of identity

Nowadays, most of the baskets are no longer used for storing grain. Their current function responds to the practical needs of our times, serving to store tools, implements, etc. Aesthetic and ornamental reasons also explain the good health of these ethnographic assets, since hórreos are socially valued as a cultural heritage that adorns the private fields of the houses, something of which their owners are proud. This valuation is also related to the preservation of Galician identity and family memory, a symbol of the architecture that our ancestors built to store bread.

Detail of the sundial of a granary erected in Carrasqueira.

Our parish is rich in rural architectural heritage, and the hórreos occupy a prominent place in it. Hórreos are especially abundant in the municipality of As Neves and in the parishes of O Condado, where the building tradition was maintained for centuries, mainly from the second half of the 18th century until the beginning of the 20th century. In traditional houses, the usual dimensions of these adjective constructions are about 3 metres long by 1 m wide. The equidistance between the steeples and the vines is known as a clearing or pasavento, offering variable dimensions, although the usual separation is between 1.20 and 1.50 m.

Granary of A Casa dos Periquillos, in A Coutada

Two typologies

Wooden granaries
These hórreos are usually made entirely of oak or chestnut wood, a material that is highly valued for its durability, resistance to damp and flexibility. The structure of the wooden hórreos includes a chamber or raised floor on a granite base that supports a series of feet and braces made of the same material that support the main body. The side elevations of the chamber are formed by voussoirs, a series of vertical slabs that allow ventilation of the interior. The roof, made of flat or curved tiles from the country, is always gabled to facilitate the drainage of rain. This type of granary requires more costly and frequent maintenance than the mixed type, which is why their number is decreasing.

A rod granary in a painting by Carlos Sobrino Buhigas (Concello de Pontevedra)

Mixed granaries
One of the most characteristic aspects of the Taboexa granaries is their mixed typology, which combines stone elements in the base and structure of the chamber with wood, present in the doors, floor and side elevations. This mixed design, very common in our region, represents a practical and aesthetic solution that fuses the solidity of stone in the hórreo's skeleton with the lightness and flexibility of wood in the closing of the chamber. This combination of materials explains why this type of granary is the most common today.