Colomers de Rossell i de Cotxa

Tower dovecots became the typical construction model in local architecture between the 16th ang 18th centuries

Tower dovecots became the typical construction model in local architecture between the 16th ang 18th centuries.

They were used for raising domestic pigeons, and can be found both attached to the house and in the center of a home field. Raising pigeons had two purposes: on the one hand, the birds were eaten as a normal part of the diet and, on the other; their droppings were used as natural fertilizer. Not all the houses had dovecots.

Some of them had a dovecot attached to the main dwelling or to the threshing floor, with openings on the façade, and only a few houses had tower dovecots, as these, as well as the functions mentioned, were signs of prestige: nearly all were the property of the wealthiest houses.
The dovecot faces the sun and has two roofs, between which there is a slabs projects from the four walls. These were to prevent marauding animals and rats from getting in and eating the birds.

The walls of these dovecots have holes in which the pigeons nested. The Cotxa dovecot is listed as being of cultural interest.

Whole year