{{Short description|Granery in northeastern Iberian peninsula}} {{Italic title}} [[File:Horreo-Gonzar-Galicia-2010.jpg|thumb|Stone ''hórreo'' with wooden walls in Portomarín, Galicia.]] [[File:Falk Oberdorf Parque de Invierno Haus.JPG|thumb|Wooden ''panera'' on stone pillars in Oviedo, Asturias.]]
An '''''hórreo''''' ({{IPA|gl|ˈo.re.ʊ|lang}}) is a traditional agricultural building found throughout the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, designed to store and preserve food, especially grain, away from moisture and animals, keeping it in optimal condition. Built in stone, wood, or bricks, it is raised from the ground by pillars ending in flat staddle stones to prevent access by rodents, with ventilation allowed by the slits in its walls. Although they are most commonly found in Spain in Galicia and Asturias, they are also found in Léon, Zamora, Cantabria, the Basque Country, and Navarre. They are also found in Northern Portugal.
Documented as early as the 9th century, ''hórreos'' were originally designed as storehouses for grain, meat, or agricultural products, although their use later expanded to include other purposes such as craft workshops, tool sheds, curing areas for sausages, meats, or cheeses, beehives or dovecotes, and even dwellings. The space beneath is also sometimes used as a stable or for storing carts.
== Names == An ''hórreo'' is also known as ''horriu'' or {{lang|ast|horru}} in Asturian; {{lang|roa|horriu}} in Leonese; {{lang|roa|hurriu}} in Cantabrian; ''hórreo'', ''paneira'', ''canastro'', ''piorno'', or ''cabazo'' in Galician; {{lang|pt|espigueiro}}, {{lang|pt|canastro}}, {{lang|pt|caniço}}, or {{lang|pt|hórreo}} in Portuguese; and {{lang|eu|garea}}, {{lang|eu|garaia}}, or {{lang|eu|garaixea}} in Basque.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/raccard|title = RACCARD : Définition de RACCARD}}</ref> The term ultimately derives from Latin {{Lang|la|hordeum}} (“barley”).<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4389377|title=Horrea Romana: Roman Storehouses|author=Kaufman, David B.|year=1929|journal=The Classical Weekly|volume=23|issue=7|pages=49-54|via=JSTOR|doi=10.2307/4389377|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://etimologias.dechile.net/?ho.rreo|title=HÓRREO|website=Etimologías de Chile - Diccionario que explica el origen de las palabras}}</ref>
Its pillars are known as {{lang|ast|pegollos}} in Asturian and Cantabrian, {{lang|gl|esteos}} in Galician, {{lang|pt|espigueiros}} in Portuguese, and {{lang|eu|abearriak}} in Basque; and the flat staddle stones are known as ''vira-ratos'' in Galician, ''mueles'' or ''tornarratos'' in Asturian, or ''zubiluzea'' in Basque.
== Origins == [[File:Cantiga de Santa Maria CLXXXVI - Horreos.jpeg|thumb|Illustration from a manuscript of the Galician ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'' ({{circa|1280}})]] The ''hórreo'' has its origin in elevated and ventilated granaries that existed in Celtiberian villages before the arrival of the Romans, but the few documents that exist do not allow establishing a formal relationship with the current type.
The oldest known document that uses the word ''horreo'' referring to a granary is a document from the year 800 relating to the founding of the Taranco monastery, in Valle de Mena, in the current province of Burgos. The oldest known document containing an image of an ''hórreo'' is the ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'' (song CLXXXVII) written during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile in the 13th century. In this depiction, three rectangular ''hórreos'' of gothic style are illustrated.<ref>Hórreo: granary (Spain), in ''Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World'' (Paul Oliver ed.), Vol. 1, Theories and Principles, pp. 713-714: "Not until the 13th century, in the 'Cantigas' of Alfonso X, was there confirmation of buildings that were morphologically similar to the basic Galician hórreos."</ref>
== Distribution == ''Horreos'' are found throughout the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula: in northwestern Spain and Northern Portugal. Although they are most commonly found in Spain in Galicia and Asturias, they are also found in Léon, Zamora, Cantabria, the Basque Country, and Navarre.
Approximately 100,000 ''hórreos'' are found in Galicia,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.elcorreogallego.es/concellos/2024/09/29/atlas-cataloga-30-000-horreos-108694518.html|title=Un Atlas cataloga 30.000 hórreos en la provincia coruñesa|date=29 September 2024|language=es|author=Gayoso, Carlos|newspaper=El Correo Gallego}}</ref> another 30,000 in Asturias,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.elcomercio.es/asturias/asturias-cerca-centenar-horreos-alto-valor-historico-20260327164351-nt.html|title=En Asturias tenemos casi un centenar de hórreos y paneras de alto valor histórico y artístico en peligro de venirse abajo|date=4 April 2026|language=es|author=Villacorta, Azahara|newspaper=El Comercio}}</ref> about 400 in León, about 30 in Cantabria, about 20 in Navarre, and almost negligible amounts in the Basque Country and Zamora, in addition to an undetermined number of them in Northern Portugal.
== Types == There are two main types of ''hórreos'': rectangular-shaped, the more extended, usually found in Northern Portugal, Galicia, and coastal areas of Asturias; and square-shaped found in Asturias, Léon, western Cantabria, and eastern Galicia. They are made entirely of stone, of stone with wooden side walls, entirely of wood, of wood on stone feet, or even of brick. The roofs are usually covered with tiles, although some are covered with thatch, slate, or stone.
In Asturias, those square-shaped with a pyramid hip roof with a single central peak are ''hórreos''; while those rectangular-shaped with a hip roof with a central rige are ''paneras''. They are classified according to the characteristics of the roof (thatched, tiled, slate, pitched, or double pitched), the materials used for the pillars, or the decoration. The oldest still standing date from the 15th century, and even nowadays they are built ex novo. Some of them are poorly preserved but there is a growing awareness from owners and authorities to maintain them in good condition.
The longest ''hórreo'' is located in Carnota (A Coruña) and is {{convert|35|m|ft}} long.
Other similar granary structures include ''cabaceiras'' (Galician round basketwork ''hórreo''), ''trojes'' or {{lang|es|trojs}} in Castile, or silos.
<Gallery> File:Horreo Lluanco.png|alt=Hórreo in Lluanco, Asturias, Spain|''Panera'' in Luanco, Asturias File:Horrero.JPG|''Hórreo'' in Gondomar, Galicia. File:Carnota 084.JPG|''Hórreo'' in Carnota, Galicia. File:Horreo en Cosgaya, Cantabria.jpg|''Hórreo'' in Cosgaya, Cantabria. File:Hórreo tipo asturiano, O Piornedo.jpg|''Hórreo'' in Piornedo, Galicia. File:Hórreo da reitoral de Bealo, Boiro.jpg|Corn cobs inside an ''hórreo'' in Boiro, Galicia. File:Horreodefonseca.jpg|''Hórreo'' in Siero, Asturias. File:Pegollo horreo eiros.jpg|Stone pillar (''pegollu'') standing on a footing stone (''pilpayu'') and capped with a staddle stone (''muela''). File:Hórreo Ortoño.jpg|Decorated ''horreo'' in Ames, Galicia. File:Hórreo e prensa para facer sidra. Pazo da Hermida. Dodro.jpg|Brick ''horreo'' in Dodro, Galicia. File:Hórreos de Combarro.jpg|''Horreos'' in {{ill|Combarro, Poio|gl|Combarro, Poio|lt=Combarro}}, Galicia. File:Soajo - Espigueiros.JPG|''Espigueiros'' in {{ill|Soajo|pt}}, Portugal. File:Hórreo de Carnota.jpg|''Horreo'' over pillars in {{ill|San Mamede de Carnota, Carnota|gl|San Mamede de Carnota, Carnota|lt=Carnota}}, Galicia. File:Horreo de Lira, Carnota.jpg|''Horreo'' over pillars and slab in {{ill|Lira, Carnota|gl|lt=Lira}}, Galicia. File:Hórreo do Araño.jpg|''Horreo'' over barn in Rianxo, Galicia. File:Oroso hórreo.jpg|''Horreo'' over masonry strains in Oroso, Galicia. File:Ponteulla Vedra Galicia 12.jpg|Wooden ''horreo'' over masonry strains in Vedra, Galicia. File:Estayes l'horru.svg|Parts of the Asturian ''horru'' </Gallery>
== Similar granaries in Europe == Similar granaries were common throughout Atlantic Europe: Northwest Iberian Peninsula, France, the British Isles, Scandinavia.
French Savoy has its ''regard'', also encountered in the Swiss Valais (''raccard'') and the Italian Aosta Valley (''rascard''). Norway has its ''stabbur'', Sweden its ''härbre'' or more precisely ''stolphärbre'' or {{lang|no|stolpbod}}. ''Hambars'' are found in the Balkans, and ''serender'' in northern Turkey.
Similar buildings (barns) on staddle stones are found in Southern England.
<Gallery> File:Raccard.JPG|''Raccards'' in Valais, Switzerland File:Bautahaugen Samlinger, Bergsrud.jpg|''Stabbur'' originally from Bergsrud in Sør-Aurdal, Norway, later relocated to the Bautahaugen Samlinger File:Ambar 1.jpg|Ambar from 1888 in Banovci, Croatia, during winter File:Ambar 2.jpg|Ambar from 1888 in Banovci, Croatia, during summer File:Staddle stones, Somerset Rural Life Museum.jpg|Building sitting on staddle stones, at the Somerset Rural Life Museum, similar to Iberian ''hórreos''. </Gallery>
==See also== * Raccard * Hambar * Horreum * Corn crib
==References== <references/>
==External links== {{commons category|Hórreos}} *[http://celticland.com/?page_id=7&album=6&gallery=16 Hórreo de Carnota] *[http://es.slideshare.net/miguelssm/asturian-horreo-34457929 Asturian Hórreo] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCT5G8hGBKM Galician hórreos] *[http://www.iberianature.com/material/horreos.htm Horreos in English] * :es:Archivo:Santa fe navarra horreo jpg *[https://pixgrove.blogspot.com/2011/08/horreo-singular-symbol-of-spain.html Nice collection of images of horreos.] *[https://www.flickr.com/photos/51603732@N07/sets/72157626220683603/show/ Large collection of images of staddle stones/pillars] {{coord missing|Spain}}
{{Architecture of Spain}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horreo}} Category:Buildings and structures in Asturias Category:Buildings and structures in Galicia (Spain) Category:Buildings and structures in Cantabria Category:Architecture in Spain Category:Granaries Category:Food storage