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The symbol of a boat with a cross and disciples is an ancient image depicting "oneness" with Christ, and today is a symbol of ecumenical fraternity. See the image from Japanese Christian artist Sadao Watanabe below.The attached photo was taken in La Laguna (between La Faba and O Cebreiro). It looks a bit like a boat or an anchor, with a face either side of the mast or shank. It is on the jamb of a barn door to the left of the path. Do you know what it means? Perhaps you saw a mention of it in a guide to the camino.
This is interesting, thank you. I had not been aware of the fact that a ship or boat with the cross as the mast and the disciples in it is an ancient Christian symbol for the church, ie the community of the faithful or even a space of rescue and salvation. It seems a likely explanation. There is definitely no dead body in this boat. I wonder whether this stone had been repurposed, ie had been taken from another building that was a ruin.The symbol of a boat with a cross and disciples is an ancient image depicting "oneness" with Christ, and today is a symbol of ecumenical fraternity.
I would say that what is now a barn was a house ( for people) in the past and was built probably in the 19th century or before because doesn't have chimney.I didn't notice it myself but you are right, it is clearly visible when you walk on the path through the village towards O Cebreiro.
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About the houses without chimney in Galicia, President John Adams stayed in one of them on his trip to France in 1780. He complained about the smoke in the kitchen.I would say that what is now a barn was a house ( for people) in the past and was built probably in the 19th century or before because doesn't have chimney.
And I say that because If it was initially a barn wouldn't have the 2 windows on the first floor.
This turns out to be quite fascinating ... here is another Street View image of the building. There is apparently a third door (street front). Did people live on the first floor, with animals on the ground floor, and crops and supplies stored on the ground floor and under the roof? I think I can make out a pulley in or near the opening just beneath the roof. What do you make of the window/opening on the right on the ground floor?I would say that what is now a barn was a house ( for people) in the past and was built probably in the 19th century or before because doesn't have chimney. And I say that because If it was initially a barn wouldn't have the 2 windows on the first floor.
I think on the ground floor were the kitchen on the left (green window) and the animals right (small window). Upstairs the beds not divided in rooms. No toilet.This turns out to be quite fascinating ... here is another Street View image of the building. There is apparently a third door (street front). Did people live on the first floor, with animals on the ground floor, and crops and supplies stored on the ground floor and under the roof? I think I can make out a pulley in or near the opening just beneath the roof. What do you make of the window/opening on the right on the ground floor?
Also, there is something hanging on the wall next to the symbol. I wonder what it is.
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you must be right, I didn't think of that. that makes it more likely to be an inn or a hospice. how does 'The Boat of the Apostle' sound?I would say that what is now a barn was a house ( for people) in the past and was built probably in the 19th century or before because doesn't have chimney.
And I say that because If it was initially a barn wouldn't have the 2 windows on the first floor.
thanks for the photo, I could't post it.I didn't notice it myself but you are right, it is clearly visible when you walk on the path through the village towards O Cebreiro.
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I think that was pretty much the case for all houses of lower classes in europe, especially in the countryside. in slovenia, people were living in such houses right up into the 1970s! and didn't davey write about an actual one-room romanesque house with a hearth in the middle of the room, in aubrac on via podiensis, where he stayed the night with the owner?About the houses without chimney in Galicia, President John Adams stayed in one of them on his trip to France in 1780. He complained about the smoke in the kitchen.
I think the third door facing the street is/was the door where the carts/wagons could pull in. that's why it's on the street side.There is apparently a third door (street front).
it does indeed look like a pulley of some sort. downloading/uploading/reloading of cargo, like chests or barrels?I think I can make out a pulley in or near the opening just beneath the roof.
to me, it looks like a niche for a statue of the house's patron, say.What do you make of the window/opening on the right on the ground floor?
that device made from straps to put on a cow's head to lead it around? though it looks more like a long leather strap with a short chain at one end. for a dog?Also, there is something hanging on the wall next to the symbol. I wonder what it is.
In 2014 it looks as though there was a thin short chain hanging on the piece of metal (you can't call it a hook) sticking out of the wall next to the carving. In 2012 it looks as though it's a bunch of grass. this is proving very interesting! I'm learning a lot about Galician architecture. The next person from this thread who walks that way must ask to go in and have a look around!This turns out to be quite fascinating ... here is another Street View image of the building. There is apparently a third door (street front). Did people live on the first floor, with animals on the ground floor, and crops and supplies stored on the ground floor and under the roof? I think I can make out a pulley in or near the opening just beneath the roof. What do you make of the window/opening on the right on the ground floor?
Also, there is something hanging on the wall next to the symbol. I wonder what it is.
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You mean the vertical blocks? I can only see four (one to the right of the window on the left, one to the right of the large door and one either side of the window on the right). They look as though they must be concrete to me. They run up from a line of similar horizontal material, but that line crosses the large door about a foot below the top of the door, so I can't see how it can be the line between the ground floor and the upper floor.interesting are also vertical lines (five or six of them) going up from a horizontal line that seems to be dividing the ground floor and the upper floor. they are too widely spaced to be walled-in windows (and not at all in the style of window-making in galicia) and it also wouldn't make sense to have two extra big doors on the first floor of the façade. cement-covered wooden beams also don't go with the local building style.
yup. there are three to the right of the door and two on the left, with the one just to the left of the door being a ghost of the line. there could be another one in the corner with the perpendicular building and obscured by the drain pipe.You mean the vertical blocks? I can only see four (one to the right of the window on the left, one to the right of the large door and one either side of the window on the right). They look as though they must be concrete to me. They run up from a line of similar horizontal material, but that line crosses the large door about a foot below the top of the door, so I can't see how it can be the line between the ground floor and the upper floor.
I think @Kathar1na meant the side facing the street. the triangular wooden thing protruding from the small window under the roof. from either side on google maps it looks like it has something shiny attached to it, but it turns out to only be a sunlight reflection. from below it's just two wooden boards stuck at an angle. really weird."I think I can make out a pulley in or near the opening just beneath the roof." -- do you mean on the side facing the yard or the side facing the street? I can't see anything on the yard side, and I can't see a pulley on the street side. I can see a bracket sticking out from the small window just below the roof on the street side. The window has three (or four) metal bars in front of a wooden board. If there ever was a pulley on the bracket, it would not be much use for raising heavy goods up to the window as the window is too small to admit any sizeable object, even before the bars were in place. On the other hand, I can't imagine what the bracket is for, otherwise.
the nicely cut stone would suggest that the symbol has been cut into the stone when this has already been shaped and smoothed. thus making it less likely that it's a spolia remade from from a tombstone, for example.
OK, that's it ... ☺. Can someone please go and knock on this door and ask? Doesn't Laurie Dennett (Canadian author and Camino person) live just round the corner? Does someone know her personally and can enquire politely?I've just noticed two crosses incised in the stones either side of the window on the left on my photo
Rebekah will be passing by in the next couple of weeks. I believe she left from León a few days ago.OK, that's it ... ☺. Can someone please go and knock on this door and ask? Doesn't Laurie Dennett (Canadian author and Camino person) live just round the corner? Does someone know her personally and can enquire politely?
Since thiis structure is located a few meters from the popular Bar Albergue La Escuela in
La Laguna de castilla why not téléphone or sms the Albergue for further historic info re the structure and area? Years past old photos were visible in the bar.
tele.+ 34987684786
Bar Albergue La Escuela
Calle Camino de Santiago, 10,
24526 La Laguna de castilla, León, Spain
La Laguna is barely in Leon, so I am not surprised.From Villafranca the Galician language is spoken in all the villages.
Thank you so much, Pelegrin! I hesitate to ask you, but could you ask her, is the large door original, or was it made when the house was converted to a stable? And what was the bracket by the small window on the street for? I would ask her myself, but I don't speak Galego (or Spanish).I called Albergue La Escuela and spoke with a very friendly woman. According to her the current stable was in the past a house (for people) with stable in the ground floor like every other stable in the villages around. That explains the 2 windows upstairs. The kitchen in that mountain area was not always in the grown floor like in my area of Galicia which is flatter.
According to her the symbol at the door is the mark of the canteiro (stonemason).
I called Albergue La Escuela and spoke with a very friendly woman. According to her the current stable was in the past a house (for people) with stable in the ground floor like every other stable in the villages around. That explains the 2 windows upstairs. The kitchen in that mountain area was not always in the grown floor like in my area of Galicia which is flatter.
According to her the symbol at the door is the mark of the canteiro (stonemason).
My conversation with her was in Galician. I am very happy to realize that despite being still in León they speak a very good Galician in its eastern variant (mine is centraL).
From Villafranca the Galician language is spoken in all the villages.
Being in Leon I don't undertand the name La Laguna de Castilla. The fair name should be A Lagoa de Leon. HahahaMystery solved.
Thank you, @Pelegrin !
La Laguna is barely in Leon, so I am not surprised.
Edit...corrected to '@' the right person. Sorry for the mistake Pelegrin.And to the person who pointed it out...gracias.
Thank you so much, Pelegrin! I hesitate to ask you, but could you ask her, is the large door original, or was it made when the house was converted to a stable? And what was the bracket by the small window on the street for? I would ask her myself, but I don't speak Galego (or Spanish).
From one non-native speaker of English to anotherFor brackets I understand the bars at the small window.
Thank you @Kathar1na.From one non-native speaker of English to another... I had to consult a dictionary to find out whether "brackets" means anything else than this: ( ) { } [ ]. I now think that what is referred to are these two flat planks of wood that you see just beneath the roof. They seem to be fixed together to form a triangle - at least the part that we can see. It's difficult to make a good screenshot in Google Earth, here is one:
View attachment 81585
spolia (pl. spoliae) is a latin term used in archaeology, art and architecture when a (stone) object is reused in/as something. for example, if a tombstone is reused as a lintel (as in hornillos del camino) or a corbel is reused as part of a wall construction but is at the same time the wall's decoration (as the wonderful corbel of giving birth on the cathedral in santander).@caminka, can you explain this a bit? So interesting!
that's why I dubbed it 'the ghost of a line' because I think that if you removed one of the other plaster/cement lines, this is what would be left of them if you weren't very thorough.I think that the vertical line just to the left of the central doorway is almost an optical illusion. When you look closely at it, there is nothing there (also visible in attached photo)
wow, excellently spotted!I've just noticed two crosses incised in the stones either side of the window on the left on my photo (below). .
thank you for asking!I called Albergue La Escuela and spoke with a very friendly woman. According to her the current stable was in the past a house (for people) with stable in the ground floor like every other stable in the villages around. That explains the 2 windows upstairs. The kitchen in that mountain area was not always in the grown floor like in my area of Galicia which is flatter.
According to her the symbol at the door is the mark of the canteiro (stonemason).
My conversation with her was in Galician. I am very happy to realize that despite being still in León they speak a very good Galician in its eastern variant (mine is centraL).
From Villafranca the Galician language is spoken in all the villages.
thank you for asking!
but the stonemasons' marks that I've seen are not usually in relief, they are engraved. and though some can be quite complex, they do not usually comprise a head. check here.
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