Hermitages and "Bordes"
THE BEAUTY OF THE HERMITAGES
The seven parishes contain notable Romanesque remains and vestiges of other cultures. They are places which are worth visiting and stopping at as they mean taking pleasant walks and discovering traces of history.
On this page we show some of the hermitages in Andorra which are easily accessible. If you are interested in information on all of them, we recommend a visit to the tourist offices in each parish.
THE BORDA
The word "borda" has degenerated over the years to mean simply some type of rustic building of a certain age.
In fact, as the Pyrenean historian Manuel Anglada i Ferran states, a "borda" "is a farm building separate from the farm itself or the village and used to store agricultural tools".
Apart from rare exceptions, "bordes" contain no fireplace or chimney as they used to be used to store hay or any type of dry fodder. However, there would be some opening on the upper floor, made in the roof, so that one could light a small fire if need be.
This definition of "borda" means that it is not strictly speaking a house but a bastard house ("casa borda" in Catalan) and maybe this meaning came from the Old Frankish word "bord" as more primitive buildings were made in wood.