What is a hórreo of the Way of St James?
The Galician hórreo is a specific type of Galician hórreo, a building to farming uses to dry, cure and save the corn and others cereals before remove the grain and grind. Consist of a storage chamber, separated of the land to avoid the entrance of the humidity and animals.
In Galicia coexist three basic typologies of hórreos: the Galician type (also called “Galician-Portuguese”), the Asturian type and the hórreo of sticks, less elaborated and has small portable barn, make of vegetal materials. In the northeast of Galicia and in the occident of Asturias is easy to find Galician and Asturian hórreos, although with different name.
The Origen of the hórreo term provide of the Latin horreum that design a building where it is saved the fruits of the land, especially the grain. The first graphic representation of a hórreo is of XIII century, in the Cantigas de Santa María, attributed to Alfonso X el Sabio.
In the beginning, the use of the air grans in Galicia are linked to the millet farming, that it practiced already in the castros culture, farming that last in the Middle Age and was replaced for corn when it arrived to Europe in the XVII century.
The bread was the fundamental food of the town, and with the introduction of corn, improves the conditions of the life, and the incomes.
In 1973 is approve a protection Decree of all hórreos and cabazos In Galicia and Asturias, that wanted avoid the loss of hórreos uses. Some of the Galician hórreos have the consideration of historic-artistic Monument, such as the rectoral of St Comba de Carnota, build in 1768, or the group of hórreos of Combarro.
The most large hórreo of Galicia is in Araño (Rianjo) with 37,05 m of longitude and the most tall measure eight metres and half. The most capacity hórreo is placed in Poyo, it has an interior volume of 123,25 m³ and is hold on 51 foots, and altought traditionally are with rectangular floor, exist square, round, with L form, and octagonal hórreos, in Fonsagrada. It is calculated that in 2004 had approximately 30.000 hórreos, although its number decrease quickly.