Skip to content

The Barraca de Roter

In Mallorca’s countryside we can find a Chozo de Pastor (Mallorquín: Barraca de Roter, Catalan: Catxerulo) like this one, built in piedra seca (dry stone). This is a shepherd’s hut in dry stone of times gone by. Huts like this were often built by the Pagès or Roter (shepherd) on a minor field of the land-owning farmer employing him. These barraques were used periodically during times of harvesting of either algarrobas, almonds or figs. The huts provided shelter during rain or storm and were used for storing tools and equipment, or to keep guard of a goat or two overnight.

The huts were built solidly. The one shown here is still standing strong after a few hundred years. I am not suggesting that this Barraca was erected by the Moors but, its design may well go back to the Moorish settlers, circa 1200 AD. Well done, Roter.

The photo was taken near Santanyí, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: September 29th, 2011. The time was 13:29:31.

1 reply »

  1. “Catxerulo”? It may refer to the conical shape of the top. It sounds strange to me, though. Where I live (Central Catalonia) it’s always been either “barraca (or cabana) de pedra seca” or “barraca de vinya”, as far as I know!! We have plenty of them over here, with very similar roof and overall designs, many times in abandoned places taken over by the pine woods and scrub.
    I’ve observed you tend to favour romantic Moorish origins for multiple constructions. I wouldn’t be so sure in this case. Many of these “barraques” aren’t as old as you figure them to be.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Comments

October 2011
S M T W T F S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  

Stats

  • 1,669,994 visits

Copyright

Copyright © November Press 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to November Press and Mallorca Daily Photo Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Copyleft ©© Klaus Fabricius 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.