The Aranese Borda. Traditional Livestock Architecture

Bordas are traditional buildings, generally isolated, that have been used for livestock use.
Its territory extends throughout the Pyrenees, appearing different variants depending on the valley in which we find ourselves.
In the Aran Valley the old traditional buildings have been disappearing and others have been losing their unique elements. Many of them have also been rehabilitated for tourist purposes.
The Aranese "board" is characterized by the slope of its roof. They are made with stone and mortar and in some cases they were internally insulated with cow manure to make them hotter.
They have two heights, in the interior floor the cattle were closed and fed with hay in the feeders or “rastrillers”. These are made with wooden slats.
The floor iscovered by large stone slabs.
The upper floor usually has an exterior access, either through a staircase or through the natural unevenness of the land. It kept the hay produced during spring and summer to feed the cattle during the long winter, in which large snowfalls were common.
The wood used in the interior structure of the first floor and the roof was spruce, which was cut in those periods of the year that the Aranes considered most suitable, once dried it was transported to the place of buildings.
The roofs of the Aranese buildings were herbaceous. They were covered with cereal straw, usually wheat or rye, which was grown for this purpose. After mowing and after having harvested the cereal, the straw was grouped into sheaves. These sheaves were used to gradually cover the entire roof.
The roof ridge, "capiera" in aranés, was a very delicate part that had to receive an annual maintenance since it used to spoil quickly. This reason has led to the replacement of plant roofs by many uralite roofs.
There is a certain parallel between the lexicon used in Aran to name the roof "tet", in Occitan language, and the employee in Asturias "teito". In fact, the ancient Aranese borders should not be very different from the current “teito cabins” of Asturias.