Homes, Towns and Villages in the Visigothic Kingdom

Sixth- and seventh-century households near Madrid occupied farms and villages beside fields and watercourses. Houses stood among ovens, wells and storage pits, combining living space with food preparation and farm work. At Gózquez, occupation continued into the eighth century as buildings were renewed. In older cities, episcopal projects reorganised parts of the Roman centre.

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Farms, villages and rural buildings

Large excavations in the Madrid region reveal open settlements close to watercourses and cultivable ground. Buildings did not necessarily form dense streets. Houses and ancillary structures could be spread across working plots, with ovens, wells and storage pits nearby.

A farm might contain only a few domestic groups, while a village connected more households over a longer period. Shared burial areas help identify lasting communities, though they do not reveal whether land was held independently or under a larger owner. At Gózquez, occupation beginning in the sixth century continued into the eighth. At other settlements, residential areas shifted gradually as buildings were replaced.

Rural builders used stone bases with earth and timber. Sunken structures and post settings preserve working and storage buildings as well as domestic construction; roofs and upper walls survive less completely. Builders used local materials and recovered stone and roof tiles from older structures. Renewing a house within an established settlement preserved access to nearby fields.

Cooking, milling and keeping supplies

Hearths and ovens brought heat into the domestic economy. Cooking required fuel, water, containers and space for preparation; processing grain required equipment and repeated labour. Rotary hand mills found in rural settlements show that making food usable was part of household work.

Grain could be kept in underground silos and other stores, alongside provisions held in vessels. Storage installations occupied space and had to be managed through the year. Their presence beside residential buildings shows why a house should be considered with its surrounding plot. When a pit ceased to be useful, rubbish could be deposited in it, changing its function without requiring the whole settlement to move.

Water, waste and practical living conditions

Proximity to a stream helped supply households and livestock, while wells could provide another water source. Low-lying ground also offered opportunities for pasture and gardens. Carrying and storing water remained work even where a supply was close by.

Households dumped ash, broken pottery and organic refuse, often filling disused pits. Some organic material may also have been spread on cultivated ground.

Towns after the Roman civic building boom

Churches and episcopal residences occupied or altered parts of older civic centres. Residential buildings and workshops reused former public spaces, changing the arrangement of activity within towns. At La Almoina in Valencia, Bishop Justinian’s sixth-century building programme established a cathedral and baptistery within the Roman city. The baptistery used Roman ashlar and had a drainage channel leading towards the street. These remains belong to an institutional religious complex.

Wealth and the people who shared a home

A large residence connected with an estate or episcopal office could accommodate administration and display as well as domestic life. More modest buildings supported households whose work and storage occupied much of the surrounding space. Size and quality could distinguish access to resources, but they cannot identify every resident’s legal status.

Households could include relatives, hired or dependent workers and enslaved people. Their domestic space accommodated sleeping and preparing food alongside storing and processing supplies.