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Vernacular architecture in Mallorca

Forns de calç (lime kilns)

At a glance

Kilns where limestone was baked to make lime. The Serra de Tramuntana is almost all limestone: there was plenty of stone and holm oak firewood nearby.

Architecture and engineering
Vernacular architecture in Mallorca
Lime kiln — Calvià . Galatzó Restored lime kiln
Lime kiln — Calvià . Galatzó Restored lime kiln — Joan Gené, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

What is

Kilns where limestone was baked to make lime. The Serra de Tramuntana is almost all limestone: there was plenty of stone and holm oak firewood nearby.

##Com works

  • Location: on a slope, to load from above easily and so that rainwater does not accumulate (Consorci).
  • Shape: a large circular hole lined with a thick dry stone wall.
  • Loading: the calciners stacked the stone forming a resistant dome inside the oven, leaving the hearth for the fire underneath (mallorca.com; detail to be verified).
  • Cooking: days of continuous fire with a lot of firewood, especially alzina (oak), which is hard wood.
  • Result: calç viva (quicklime), which when slaked with water becomes lime for mortar and whitewashing.

Elements and vocabulary

  • forn de calç, calciner, calç viva, calç amarada (off; to verify), pedra calcària
  • pot (oven tank; check), portal (feed mouth), filled
  • whitewash (whitewash)

History

  • Prosperous economic activity in the Serra (Consorci).
  • Lime was used for construction, medicine, hygiene, thermal insulation and disinfection of cisterns ( aljubs ).
  • It was part of the forest trades along with charcoal burners, lumberjacks and carters; knowledge passed down in the family.
  • End: industrial lime and cement in the 19th century. XX (chronology to be verified).

On veure'n

  • Forn de calç d'Escorca and forn de calç de Sant Elm (Andratx): accessible on foot.
  • Parc Etnològic de Caimari: open-air museum of stone constructions in Sec de la Serra.
  • Along the GR 221 in holm oak forest areas.

Stat

Open, roofless ruins in the forest. No official inventory located (please verify with the Consell). Low risk of destruction, high risk of oblivion.

Why is it design

A kilometer zero industry: stone, firewood and slope in the same place. Lime closes the cycle of vernacular architecture: it unites, whitens, disinfects and lets the walls breathe. Lesson: the most technical material in the house came from the mountain next door. It is proximity design .

Avui architecture

No reinterpretation identified in the subbrain. Lime returns in restoration and bioconstruction (to document producers in Mallorca).

For the project

  • Find out if there are any active artisanal lime kilns left in the Balearic Islands (open question).
  • Whitewashing workshop with lime: technique + color (village white).
  • Trade (sister file): calciners and forns of calç and calç .
  • Related trades: pedra en sec , marès .

Frequently asked questions

What is Forns de calç (lime kilns)?

Kilns where limestone was baked to make lime. The Serra de Tramuntana is almost all limestone: there was plenty of stone and holm oak firewood nearby.

Sources

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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