THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ABANDONED MORISCO VILLAGES IN THE VALLEYS OF MARINA ALTA                                                                Doctoral thesis - Abstract                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

The valleys of the county of Marina Alta are places in the Valencian region with outstanding natural and historical value. They are characterised by having been densely populated in the Mudejar and Morisco periods, between the 13th and 17th centuries. The best-known architectural evidence from this period consists of the impressive, strategically located castles or fortresses that generated complex defensive systems. However, in assessing the historical complexity of the region, the way in which the population settled in small centres or farmsteads cannot be ignored. Each of these settlements grouped just a few families and they were dispersed along the valleys in a hilly landscape characterised by agricultural terraces. Some of these places were left uninhabited and, although they are very badly ruined and in danger of disappearing, they are still useful for observing the features of the hamlets of the time. They have been called "abandoned Morisco villages", as the expulsion in 1609 of the Moriscos who inhabited these lands was a point of cultural rupture and abandonment. Throughout the territory of the old Kingdom of Valencia, there is normally no trace left of their architecture, which has almost completely disappeared, and studies are based on archaeological digs. In the area of study for this thesis, by contrast, a surprisingly high percentage of depopulated villages are preserved. 

The method developed fits into the line of studies and research related to the conservation of architectural heritage. One of its fundamental aspects is the reading of architecture. The direct observation of buildings is the basic source on which all subsequent work is developed. Graphic language is considered as that of architecture and as the best way of describing a building. A complete planimetry of the current state of the buildings, which has until now not existed, has been made, and its value is increasing in the face of the imminent danger that they could disappear. The current state of the depopulated villages poses a series of problems in finding out about the stages prior to the Morisco expulsion. Superimposition means that phases must be assessed, while the ruinous state makes it necessary for the disappeared sections to be restored. Because of this, other types of study, such as the consideration of phases and construction techniques, are added to the general planimetry. The documents drawn up for each depopulated village constitute a catalogue. It is extensive work, which implies compiling documentary sources and basically provides new architectural elevations and studies. It has been structured in the form of a file that includes all the information organised into fields. This means it can be used as a guide for standardised study, promoting the working methodology and making subsequent publication easier, as it is objective documentation with its own independent value.

The reading of the data collected has made it possible to discover the construction systems and processes used. Specifically, the rammed earth wall technique should be highlighted. After exhaustively collecting the traces left by these walls, it has been possible to define the forming system used quite precisely. For the great majority of cases, the dimensions and the way of arranging the main components are repeated and they have been detailed. The material of the rammed earth walls has also been determined. It is unusual because of the large proportion of stone it contains, bound by mortar that is very hard due to a mastery of the use of lime, resulting in very strong, durable walls. As well as describing the technique used and studying the materials utilised, great stress has been placed on defining the construction systems that shape the architecture: walls, spans, ceilings, roofs, flooring, renderings, etc, in as far as their state of preservation has made it possible to discover them.

The current state of the buildings must be interpreted from a diachronic point of view. The depopulated villages have been affected by superimpositions over the various centuries and have subsequently been abandoned and then ruined. It has been possible to determine some common phases associated with different construction techniques. 
 
Architectural spaces and typologies have also been determined. The way space is occupied can be analysed at various levels, from landscape to the domestic sphere, in a chain of scales running from the smallest to the largest grouping. It begins with the smallest unit of constructed space detected and continues by juxtaposing these to form houses, which together form hamlets. These, in turn, are distributed in the region in a particular way, configuring a humanised landscape. 

In the period studied, architecture on its various scales shows a series of invariables, such as the use of various types of construction and different construction technologies within a Muslim-Andalusi cultural concept that extended into the Mudejar and Morisco period. Its characteristics make it closely linked to place, coming to be considered as vernacular architecture, so it could have very ancient precedents, and also survive in subsequent rural buildings. 

Valencia, March 2009.
Alba Soler Estrela