In Galicia, the far northwestern region of Spain, there are unique little buildings that are part of the culture of the land. The name for one of them is “horreo”.
The horreo is a grain store. Every family had one in their garden. The status and wealth of the family was on display for all to see simply by the length of the horreo. The standard horreo length is about 12 feet.
Made of stone with ventilation slats, they sit raised above the ground on mushroom shaped pillars designed to keep the mice out.
Except in some of the very traditional farming communities the horreo is rarely used for its official purpose now. Mostly they are more like sheds, storing lawn furniture, gardening tools, and the like.
But they remain an important part of the Galician identity and a cultural icon of the region. An icon to be PROTECTED at all cost. Keeping them in good repair is important. A house with a well preserved horreo in its garden is a thing of pride.
Here in St. Louis, every trinket shop sells Gateway Arch paperweights. In Paris, you can buy an Eiffel Tower night light in any tourist gift shop. In Galicia it is a stone replica of the horreo.
The photo below was taken in Fisterre, the place where all of Europe once believed the world came to an end. Boats sailing out of the harbor of this town on the “coast of death” never came back. They simply dropped off the edge of our flat world.
As you can tell from the photo, even modern progress and high rise office buildings bow to the protection and preservation of the lowly horreo.