.ovar2008

gallery

An Horreo (espigueiro in portuguese) is a granary built in wood (Portugal, Spain, Scandinavia and Switzerland) or stone (Portugal and Spain), raised from the ground by pillars ending in flat stones to avoid the access of rodents. Ventilation is allowed by the grooves in its walls. In the Iberian Peninsula, hórreos are mainly found in the Northwest (Galicia, Asturias and northern Portugal). There are two main types of hórreo, rectangular-shaped, the more extended, usually found in Galicia, northern Portugal and coastal areas of Asturias; and square-shaped hórreos from Asturias, León, western Cantabria and eastern Galicia. The origin of the horreo is the horreum from the Roman Empire, and is an old technology that has nearly disappeared in the rest of the empire. Unfortunately, most of these old relics are abandoned.