Candidatura Reserva da Biosfera - Santana Madeira Biosfera

In addition to the historical buildings classified above, there are some restored
buildings, which are representative of the local life in far gone days, which although not
classified as "Valor Municipal" (Municipal value) have high cultural and ethnological
interest:
“ Casas de Fio e meio Fio” thatched houses
Yarn house, when the thatch reaches the ground, and half yarn house, when the
lower limit of the thatch coverage is above ground level, are commonly known as
thatched houses, one of ex-libris in the island of Madeira. The popular name of thatched
houses atributed by local inhabitants is due to the fact that the coverage of these
buildings is made with bundles of tied wheat and rye straw, popularly called “Colmo”
(Thatch). These are wooden buildings with three panel roofs, with a floor at ground level
and an attic. The outer wall has a front door and two windows at ground level and an
acess gateway to the higher level. The family housing units were made up of a set of
thatched houses, with each unit serving a different purpose. These households were
made up of a thatched bedroom house, a thatched kitchen house where there was
invariably a wood burning oven for making homemade bread, and a thatched barn and
an outhouse toilet. At the site of Pinheirinho, there is a perfect example of these
household cores, recently restored by the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC).
The municipality of Santana typical thatched houses, are particularly common in the
parishes of Santana and Arco de São Jorge, and although less common, you can also find
some exemplars in the parish of São Jorge.
66 Application of Santana, Madeira to Biosphere Reserve – UNESCO - MAB