Baserri

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.

The term baserri is derived from the roots basa "wild" and herri "settlement"[3] and denotes a farmstead not located in a village or town.

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.

These areas went through a more thorough period of Romanisation, 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.

[1] 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 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.

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.

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.

This is still the case in the Southern Basque Country but the introduction of the Napoleonic Code in France, under which such practices are illegal, greatly upset this tradition in the North.

[3] 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.

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 sign of the universal gentry enjoyed in Biscay.

Most have three floors with stables within the building and a gently sloping roof, stone supporting walls and internal constructions made largely from wood.

Originally the fire was located in the centre of the kitchen (similar to Scottish blackhouses) with a wall-mounted iron rotatable arm but were eventually replaced by fireplaces built into the wall with a chimney.

If this was the case in the colder regions of the Basque Country, the compulsory bread oven was built on a little balcony, with only the opening facing into the kitchen to minimise fire risks.

To reduce wind resistance, the north-facing aspect of the roof is often built in a style called miru-buztana (kite tail) - essentially a hip-roof.

[1] 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.

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.