I am trying to understand my prejudice against Galician domestic architecture.
Against the natural beauty of deep calm fiords (rias), wild ocean-facing coastline and verdant hills and valleys, the plain-faced severe stone housing leaves me a little cold.
I’m pretty sure it’s not just me: I never saw one postcard featuring a Galician cottage or a mention of Galician architecture on tourism websites.
It’s not awful, just plain. Typical housing construction consists of a very large flat grey brick. There are none of the crooked edges on building materials that give character to stone homes, and it makes it hard to discern the age of the building.
Comparisons with Ireland, Galicia’s Celtic sister, are inevitable. In Ireland traditional villages are made up of clusters of deep grey stone buildings assembled with slightly irregular stones, which look cosy and inviting on the frequent wet days that keep Ireland green.
The weighty brick does mean Galician buildings have staying-power. And while you may drive around Ireland being charmed, you also see plenty of tumbling-down ruins – which are rarely spotted in Galicia with their sturdy uniform brick.
And there are some flourishes which, if not prettifying, do add to the visual culture.
One is the horreio, a traditional storehouse on stilts. They sit at the end of the garden for the surplus yielded from Galician households’ crops.
Most decorative features on homes (when they have them) are Christian-inspired, and have a sombre charm: engraved crosses, apostles or scallop shells (the traditional symbol of pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela.
There is a traditional monument with Jesus on the cross often placed in the centre of a small square or crossroads.
The cottage we stayed in near Soutamaior was rather attractive with apostles cut in to the stone, wooden shutters and grape vines forming a canopy across the middle of the house.
But maybe that’s just a matter of aesthetic prejudice again.
Now I have that off my chest I shall return to a celebration of this lesser-known province.
Best food moment: everyone loves churros right? Hot sticks of deep-fried dough, preferably served with a cup of molten chocolate. We sampled this (so-called) breakfast speciality of the region on a rainy day in Pontevedra. Bliss.
Against the natural beauty of deep calm fiords (rias), wild ocean-facing coastline and verdant hills and valleys, the plain-faced severe stone housing leaves me a little cold.
I’m pretty sure it’s not just me: I never saw one postcard featuring a Galician cottage or a mention of Galician architecture on tourism websites.
It’s not awful, just plain. Typical housing construction consists of a very large flat grey brick. There are none of the crooked edges on building materials that give character to stone homes, and it makes it hard to discern the age of the building.
 |
| Lovely landscapes, ordinary architecture |
The weighty brick does mean Galician buildings have staying-power. And while you may drive around Ireland being charmed, you also see plenty of tumbling-down ruins – which are rarely spotted in Galicia with their sturdy uniform brick.
And there are some flourishes which, if not prettifying, do add to the visual culture.
One is the horreio, a traditional storehouse on stilts. They sit at the end of the garden for the surplus yielded from Galician households’ crops.
 |
| Stone storehouse |
There is a traditional monument with Jesus on the cross often placed in the centre of a small square or crossroads.
The cottage we stayed in near Soutamaior was rather attractive with apostles cut in to the stone, wooden shutters and grape vines forming a canopy across the middle of the house.
 |
| Our cottage |
But maybe that’s just a matter of aesthetic prejudice again.
Now I have that off my chest I shall return to a celebration of this lesser-known province.
Best food moment: everyone loves churros right? Hot sticks of deep-fried dough, preferably served with a cup of molten chocolate. We sampled this (so-called) breakfast speciality of the region on a rainy day in Pontevedra. Bliss.
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