Analquería (Spanish:[alkeˈɾi.a];Valencian:alqueria[alkeˈɾi.a];Portuguese:alcaria[alkɐˈɾi.ɐ]; fromArabic القريةal-qarīa, "village, hamlet") inAl-Andalus made reference tosmall rural communities that were located near cities (medinas).[1] Since the 15th century it makes reference to a farmhouse, with an agriculturalfarm, found mainly ineastern and southeasternSpain, such asGranada andValencia. Regarding the latter locationJoan Fuster, in his book calledEl País Valenciano, makes extensive reference to the Valencian alquerías.[2] Vestiges and documents referring to alquerias, known asalcarias in Portuguese, have been found in Portugal's southern region ofAlgarve. FromCentral Portugal to the Algarve passing throughAlentejo region, a number of places in Portugal have the wordAlcaria in its name.
An alquería is a small rural community formed by a few houses. The inhabitants were usually one or more families who made a living exploiting the surrounding lands, including farming and rearing livestock.[1] The wordalquería can be traced back to the 15th century.[3] In theHorta of Valencia, where traditionally they have always been more plentiful, it is the corresponding dwelling to an important agricultural exploitation, usually onirrigated lands, unlike thehut, typical of thesmallholding, and themasia, ofcereal andlivestock character.[3] By the end of theMiddle Ages this Andalusian farm fortress evolved into more modern forms, with a small palace-like look, inhabited by rural lords.[3]
The lands to the west theLas Hurdes region inExtremadura was depopulated after themuslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century, and the first vestiges of re-population in isolated compounds of a few dwellings or hamlets, locally known asalquerías, are dated around the end of the 12th century.[4]
Many of the alquerías in the modern sense have disappeared. Some adopted different activities, such asmills orworkshops, although many of them were abandoned through lack of use or depopulation. Moreover, in the urban expansionary policy, the alquerías are goods which are coveted in terms of the economic value that the greenfield that they occupy has.[3] All this has implied that many of the alquerías that still exist are threatened with ruin. Some, of private property, have been restored as dwellings, usually as second residences, but they are not the most numerous ones.[3] Due to the rise of therural tourism, many of the rest ones have been adapted to the hotel trade as accommodations or restaurants, other cultural centers ormuseums.[citation needed]
In the typical Valencian alquería, the floor is a rectangle, which is sometimes joined with another perpendicular one, thus forming aright-angle; some other are formed by two squares, one recorded on the other.[3] There are also farms with an irregular floor. Its elevation is almost always of a smoothfaçade. The door, which usually has an arch formed by an exact semicircle, can be non-arched. In the frontispiece or façade there are one or two rows of windows; the oldest ones used to have tribolados profiles which are divided by algimeces or mullions. On the ground floor there can be found what properly constitutes the housing, being especially noteworthy thestudio or the double chamber. At the bottom of the ground floor we can find the home, with its large bellchimney.[3] When there are two floors, the first may have rooms, which originally would be dedicated to the lords. The ordinary thing is the following: the only floor constitutes the sware, designed to save theharvests, and formerly for rearingsilkworms. The cover of the alquerías have always Moorish tiles.[3]
Some alquerías fromGranada and other provinces ofEastern Andalusia have survived until nowadays.[5] In theAlpujarras and theregion of Guadix, they are currently being recovered for rural tourism, others were converted intofarms or councils.[6]
Others, however, were not that lucky and they disappeared as a result of the exodus to bigcities.
Since this name is so characteristic of the Valencian land, many companies have adopted it for their trade names.
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