''Bure'' is the
Fijian word for a wood-and-straw
hut, sometimes similar to a
cabin.
In its original sense, a ''bure'' is a structure built of anything that comes to hand. The components of a ''bure'' are either stacked together, tied together by rope, or a combination of both methods.
Traditionally, ethnic Fijians lived in two types of houses; a ''vale'' was the family house, while men's houses (where circumcised males of the clan met, ate, and slept) were known as ''bures''. Both of these buildings were dark and smoky inside, with no windows and usually only one low door. ''Vales'' had
hearth
A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, partial ...
pits where the women cooked, and the packed earth floor was covered with grass or fern leaves and then carpeted with
pandanus leaf or coarse
coconut leaf mats.
Tourism
Especially in the
Fiji
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
an tourism industry and its advertisements, the term "bure" is often synonymous with "
bungalow
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...
" or any other detached hotel or resort structure.
While a traditional bure has neither plumbing nor any amenities, and usually no electricity, a tourism bure will be of the same standard as its European or North American equivalent. A tourism bure can range from fairly basic to extremely luxurious.
References
External links
Example of a (rather nice) ''bure''
{{Huts
Buildings and structures in Fiji
House types