A baserri (;
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
: ''caserío vasco'';
French: ''maison basque'') is a traditional
half-timbered
Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
or stone-built type of
housebarn
A housebarn (also house-barn or house barn) is a building that is a combination of a house and a barn under the same roof. Most types of housebarn also have room for livestock quarters. If the living quarters are only combined with a byre, wher ...
farmhouse
FarmHouse (FH) is a men's social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 34 active chapters in the United States and Canada.FarmHouse Fraternity New Memb ...
found in the
Basque Country in northern
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and
Southwestern France. The baserris, with their gently sloping roofs and entrance portals, are highly characteristic of the region and form a vital part in traditional Basque societal structures.
[Madariaga, Nikola de ''Baserrietxea eta Eusko Etxegintza Errikoia'' Bizkaiko Aurrezki Kutxa: 1983] They are also seen to have played an important role in protecting the
Basque language
Basque ( ; ) is a language spoken by Basques and other residents of the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque ...
[Garate, G. ''27.173 Atsotitzak'' ]Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa
Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa (BBK) was a bank in Spain. On June 30, 2014, the General Assembly of BBK approved the transformation of the entity into a banking foundation, in accordance with the Law on Savings Banks and Banking Foundations.
In Biscay, t ...
Fundazioa: 1998 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"
[ Trask, L. ''The History of Basque'' Routledge: 1997 ] 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), i.e., 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 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
Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...
and central and southern
Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
(''Ager Vasconum''). These areas went through a more thorough period of
Romanisation
In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...
, 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
Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
and Biscay
Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...
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. Maize
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
from the Americas substituted less productive millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae.
Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
, taking its Basque name ''arto''. 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 is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
A person ...
in this period.[Kasper, M. ''Baskische Geschichte'' Primus: 1997 ] 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.[
Several of these new baserris were named simply '']Etxeberria
Etxeberria (, modern Basque spelling) is a Basque language placename and Basque surnames, surname from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country in Spain and France, meaning 'the new house'. It shows one meaningful variant, Etxeberri (no ...
'', "the new house".
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 th
Igartubeiti
baserri (built 1530), now an interactive museum and exhibition space, hosting events related to cider making (e.g. txalaparta
The txalaparta ( or ) is a specialized Basque music device of wood or stone. In some regions of the Basque Country, (with ) means "racket", while in others (in Navarre) has been attested as meaning the trot of the horse, a sense closely relat ...
) and traditional rural life.
The first stone farmhouses in Gipuzkoa (which entailed timber frames anyway) were built during the 15th 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"'' ("of lime and stone"), 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 laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the impact of human activitie ...
s concerning de- and reforestation
Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...
, such as the law passed by the Batzar of Azkoitia
Azkoitia () is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, in northern Spain. It is also the seat of the Municipalities of Spain, municipality of the same name.
...
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
The French Basque Country (; ; ), or Northern Basque Country (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided o ...
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
Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
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 under traditional law (the ''fueros'') cannot be divided or inherited by more than one person. This is still the case in the Southern Basque Country
The Southern Basque Country (; ) refers to the Basque territories southside of the Pyrenees, within the Iberian Peninsula.
Name
In Basque language, known as '' Euskera'', natives have referred to the Basque districts as ''Euskal Herria(k)''.
...
but the introduction of the Napoleonic Code
The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since i ...
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 (''Iglesia o mar o casa real'', "Church or sea or royal house").
As such, most baserris have a large stone-carved sign built into the front wall called ''armarriak'' (crest-stones) and a decorative lintel
A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...
stone above the entrance called ''ate-buru'' or ''atalburu
image:Atalburu Mendiburua.jpg, 250px, ''Saubat de Arraidou et Maria de Hiriart 1743''Atalburu in Lower Navarre with a lauburu and founders' names
image:Atalburu Mandoz.jpg, 250px, ''Iesus Maria Ioseph hilçiaz orhoitg-ziten Io(a)nnes de Urtiaga, M ...
'' (door head). The lintel stone usually states who built the house and the year in which it was built. 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
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
, a sign of the universal gentry
Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...
enjoyed in Biscay. The latter practice of displaying the surname is mostly found in the Southern Basque Country.[Etxegoien, J. ''Orhipean'' Xamar: 1996 ] 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
Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...
.
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 entrance, 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 blackhouse
A blackhouse ( ; ) is a traditional type of house which used to be common in Ireland, the Hebrides, and the Scottish Highlands.
Origin of the name
The origin of the name blackhouse is of some debate. On the Isle of Lewis, in particular, it ...
s) with a wall-mounted iron rotatable arm but were eventually replaced by fireplaces built into the wall with a chimney
A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typical ...
.[
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
upA double oven
A ceramic oven
An oven is a tool that is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...
was built on a little balcony
A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...
, 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 shingles made from beechwood but today in most regions baserri have tiled roofs. The Basque surname '' Telletxea'' ("the tile house") is seen to stem from that era when terracotta
Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...
tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...
s 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 mountainous parts of ]Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
and Soule
Soule (; Basque language, Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; ) is a former viscounty and France, French Provinces of France, province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département in France, départ ...
suffering from high snowfall, as wooden roofs allow for more steeply angled roofs which prevent buildup of snow.[
The ]eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...
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
A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...
tail) - essentially a hip-roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including Tented roof, tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other ve ...
.[
]
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 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 ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...
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 is a type of plaster composed of sand, water, and lime, usually non-hydraulic hydrated lime (also known as slaked lime, high calcium lime or air lime). Ancient lime plaster often contained horse hair for reinforcement and pozzolan ...
.[
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 granaries
A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...
called ''garai'' in Basque. These are small, wooden or stone-built structures on staddle stones
Staddle stones, or steddle stones, were originally used as supporting bases for granary, granaries. The staddle stones lifted the granaries above the ground, thereby protecting the stored grain from vermin and water seepage. They were also used o ...
[ 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 Generales of Biscay and Gipuzkoa ordering the tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...
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, agricultural
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
and pastoral
The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...
activities formed the mainstay of the inhabitants of a baserri but due to recent economic and societal changes, agrotourism
Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultu ...
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 (called ''eguzkilore'' or "sunflower" in Basque, not to be confused with sunflowers, called ''ekilore'') 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.][
]
See also
*Atalburu
image:Atalburu Mendiburua.jpg, 250px, ''Saubat de Arraidou et Maria de Hiriart 1743''Atalburu in Lower Navarre with a lauburu and founders' names
image:Atalburu Mandoz.jpg, 250px, ''Iesus Maria Ioseph hilçiaz orhoitg-ziten Io(a)nnes de Urtiaga, M ...
* Hilarri
*
{{European farmhouse types
References
External links
The Igartubeiti baserri museum
Association for Agrotourism
in the Autonomous Basque Community
Association for Agrotourism
in Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
Farmhouses
Culture of the Basque Country
House types
Vernacular architecture