Handbuilt homes & wabi-sabi slow life in medieval ghost town

Fifty or sixty years ago, residents of small rural Spanish towns abandoned their centuries-old villages in search of a new type of life in the city. For years, the couple thousand ghost towns of mostly Northern Spain lay empty, but in the early eighties, the migration happened in reverse. Residents of cities began to move back to these abandoned towns to start a new, slower, simpler life.

The medieval town of Ibort- 75 miles north of Zaragoza- was "rediscovered" in 1986 when a group of friends, tired of city life, arrived here to start living a slower life in the country.

"When they came here, it was to try to return to a type of life closer to nature, closer to certain values that were disappearing from this urban world," explains Ibort resident Ricardo.

They began rebuilding the homes in keeping with the traditional stone style, most often with labor-intensive slate roofs included. The new villagers had little homebuilding experience, but everyone had to build- or rebuild- their own home.

"I think it's one of the most beautiful things a person can make, "his house," explains Ricardo. "In the past nearly everyone had to do it, to live in a home you built, it's a different experience".

Today, Ibort is home to about 60 people. There is still rebuilding going on and there is still space to learn from the past. "Our modern world so accelerated, so much rushing around," says Ricardo. "I think it's necessary to stop a bit this race to who knows where."

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• slow life
• slow movement
• manual labor
• DIY homebuilding
• handbuilt house
• DIY house
• DIY home
• ghost town
• abandoned town

[wareca]

Pff podrían empezar por arreglar la matanza que dejaron el latino América o minimo devolver los libros de las culturas ancestrales que destruyeron...

[Moonsabie]

lovely but like c33r0k33 village life will become highly valued in the near future those houses in the mind of an invester

[c33r0k33]

I hope the government continues after the lease to respect the work and effort of the people to restore this government owned land.

We have abandoned farms, villages and dead urban areas across the US. Some are bought as potential investments for multi-million dollars profits someday, while investors reap tax deductions now. Others are completely forgotten Until they begin to be restored, then they are taken by developers with governmental connections. This is what I have seen in the US.

[blukatzen]

You know Kirsten, that I have heard of these village "reconquistas" in not only Spain, but in Italy and Greece, and southern Switzerland. It seems that this was a phenomenon that happened when they needed labour in the cities to build labor for products to export for money, but they bankrupted the prime of their land, which, they felt, was "backwards" or not as "productive" or "modern" as the new gadgets for export.

[blukatzen]

This was a beautiful little film, thanks so much for producing it for us. It's good that the keepers of this town have worked so hard and have learned to appreciate qualities that our ancestors knew. I hope that by keeping still, they have enriched themselves in attaining the qualities that they need to live in the cycles of nature.

[heomak]

seems so peaceful and such a pretty setting...actually, most rural villages and towns are beautiful.i grew up in a sleepy village in south india with my grandparents while my parents were working in the city. so even though i now live in a big city, i still miss that countryside/rural lifestyle. i was there recently after a long time and it's funny how i hardly ever got on the internet or watched tv while i was there. i was entertained by the clean air, peaceful environment, and the nature

[nicolasboullosa]

@kirstendirksen I think that's the key. They have agreed to give their work in exchange for a temporary use of the patrimony. Therefore they can't sell the houses they fixed, nor give them officially to their descendants, nor officially rent it, etc. I think they may have thought carefully about the drawbacks of their decision. They enjoy their life there nowadays, though.

[kirstendirksen]

Ibort residents got a 20 yr lease from the govt. Ricardo says they are beneficiaries, not owners & he was ok w/that. Many inhabitants of abandoned towns feel they get a good deal- their labor in exchange for free rent. At issue here is our public contract: we agree to respect property rights- public & private- in return for the right to own a home, for protection of nat'l forest, public safety, etc. We pay property tax in return for what these villagers now receive for free (schools, new roads).

[nicolasboullosa]

@nicolasboullosa But, again, private property is a right that would recognize your work. Except if the Administration wants to build a dam or any other equipment and, paying you what they think is fair, resettles you and takes out your property. The move of the people on these ecovillages in the 80s was risky, but at the same time they were careful to pick ghost villages with no private interests involved. Why private owners wouldn't like to maintain these places is something beyond me.

[nicolasboullosa]

@ccbgraphics Good point. I guess nobody can guarantee you a right you didn't acquire in the first place. Private property would do so. Issue here, though: these ghost towns became part of the forest literally, public land. Nobody to buy from but the State. So the only way one could claim ownership here would be via a settlement with the Administration. Question: is the work of these people, who clean the forest and are careful with public patrimony, something to be respected? I think so.