Those old laundries in the town

It used to be said that there is no village without church, fountain and laundry. However, the latter have been lost over the years and the few that remained were more like containers for old furniture or abandoned dumps. In recent decades, the commitment of City Councils and Provincial Councils has revived some of these elements of popular architecture that, in addition to embellishing many corners, reminiscent ways of life but not so distant, and almost forgotten.

Meeting places and confidences
The laundry arises when it still did not exist, nor was thought, the running water in the houses, (even less the washing machine and the detergents), and it served to facilitate to the women the washing of the clothes taking advantage of the flow of the water of sources and streams . Two pools or pools with a simple roof were enough to bring the women together in a job that served them, as well, as an encounter and distraction. Not in vain did they spend hours dedicated to these tasks. When you walk along these pylons, think inevitably about the confidences, conversations and news that will be witnessed by the stones, almost always worn, of their walls. This has been reflected in many literary works that demonstrate the importance that these spaces had in the villages:

"Half twist the cloths
I wanted, daring Leafy
not to say anything,
deviate from the stream;
tell your excesses
that the people murmur everything,
that you look at me and I look at you,
and everyone brings us over the eye"

"At the entrance of Torija, some women sing while washing clothes. When they see the car passing by, they stop for a moment at work and say goodbye with joy, smiling"

"Come on, rapasa
come on, miniña
to wash in the pond of the fountain"

But, gatherings aside, washing clothes by hand was a hard task that involved spending cold in winter and heat in summer. In winter, the almost freezing water froze hands that often suffered from chilblains. In summer, the women carried baskets filled with clothes in full sun, usually on slopes and slopes, since the laundry used to be located in the low areas taking advantage of the water currents. It was quite common to use a homemade soda-based soap that was quite aggressive for the skin and the washing process lasted three days, since it was carried out in different stages of wetting, rinsing and drying. It was very important to maintain order not to impregnate the water in the rinse pond with soap and dirt.


#tammywhite photography ?
I will give #heartxheart ?
I will only #supportonlyoriginalcontent ?

#athursdayfullofwater