Basque ethnography at a glance

Source: Bilbaopedia. Elvira Goitia Barainca Photographic Archive.

The word ‘house’ has different meanings, including one in the strictest sense and another in the broadest sense of the term and including the concept of home. The house is here considered in its broadest sense as we refer to the family home and other type of dwellings.

Families in charter towns or other urban areas have usually felt a tie to the family homestead, from which their surname or nickname often comes. Even the towns have a founding house according to popular tradition. In the Gernikaldea district, that first house is the Mezeta tower house (Mentzeta as it is known coloquially) in Ajangiz or the Gautegiz one in the neighboruing Gautegiz Arteaga.

Here are some other examples of the use of the word ‘house’: Thus, abandoned children were looked after in houses known as children’s home or foundling homes; the Houses of Mercy looked after young orphans and where they were educated and taught a trade; guesthouses provided accommodation for travellers and people who had to temporarily live away from home. Some radio stations refer to their premises as broadcasting houses. Socialists call their headquarters as the home of the people. Some religious orders use ‘house’ to refer to the place where they live and their headquarters as the Mother House. The Jesuits refer to the birthplace of their founder, Saint Ignatius, as the Holy House. The word ‘house’ takes on a special meaning when a person is sentenced to house arrest, because it is still a type of prison confinement as they are deprived of their liberty.

Source: Bilbaopedia. Elvira Goitia Barainca Photographic Archive.

During lockdown, homes had a different scope because their residents had to remain in them until their free movement was authorised. The same happened during the pandemic with the people who were forced to remain confined. Homesteads and houses with outdoor spaces have thus become more sought after, when living there was often considered to be in the sticks not so long ago.

The house has a unique meaning and value during a war, flooding or other collective woes. I remember having heard that many families lost their homes during the bombing of Gernika, and found shelter in houses of the neighbouring towns from where their families came.

There is the well-known story of the priest who went to give the last rites to a dying old woman. He tried to convince her that she was going to a better place. Her answer was emphatic: “Yes, Father, but there is no place like home”.

Segundo Oar-Arteta – Labayru Fundazioa

*Further information in: House and Family. Ethnographic Atlas of the Basque Country.