corral architecture
Introduction
A corral is a small closed enclosure inside or around a building and traditionally intended to house domestic animals.[1] They can be general, reaching the old corral surrounded by galleries between urban buildings, or specific corrals such as pigpens (for pigs) and chicken coops (for chickens); in addition to grazing pens such as sheep pens, or cattle and horse pens. Term and space can be extended to enclosures to retain or keep other animals. They continue to be common in rural areas, although, in the West, they are subject to health regulations. They can be made with wood, iron or some solid material.
Architecturally speaking, a corral is also a type of livestock sheepfold that is characterized by having a rectangular floor plan and two clearly separated spaces. On the one hand it has a tile covered area and another open patio area, called “serene” or “raso”.
The territory of the corrals
In Spain
The corrals have a very wide distribution area that extends through the Iberian Levant, the Ebro Valley and the Duero Valley. The corrals of the Ebro Valley extend through the lowest and warmest areas, with good examples of this type of sheepfold in the Monegros region and in the Caspe area. They also extend through the valleys of the Jalón, Mesa, Queiles and Alhama rivers. Reaching the warmest areas of the provinces of Soria, Guadalajara, Zaragoza and La Rioja. As the climate of this extensive territory worsens, they begin to be replaced by other types of more closed and warmer sheepfolds, such as the “farming pens” or the “chozones sabineros”.
Age of the corrals
There are great differences between corrals, tainas, farrowing pens and chozones sabineros. However, regarding its antiquity, Ángel Coronado")[2] indicates: “The corrals have a certain degree of kinship with the Tainas, a more fluid and less forced familiarity than that given between calving pens and Tainas.”