Parada de Sil Ice Houses

They are all built of stone and sunk into the earth but are of two different types, called literally “pits” and “coolers”, which had different purposes. The pits were linked with the coolers as they were where the newly fallen snow was put before it could melt in the sun and rain. Later, the snow, now ice, was taken to the cooler to be stored between layers of straw, which kept the ice in perfect condition, for use during the hot summer months.

The origin of these structures dates back to the Little Ice Age, which occurred from the second half of the 15th to the beginning of the 18th century. During this time, temperatures fell, there was more snow and it fell to lower altitudes, which led a variety of institutions, mainly nuns and Cistercian monasteries, to build “pits” and “coolers”.

Documents from the 17th to 19th century tell of the existence of ice houses in the Cabeza de Meda range. Two belonged to the Monastery of Santa María de Xunqueira de Espadanedo, one to the town, a few to private individuals and others to the monasteries of Santa Cristina and Santo Estevo. Out of this large number of ice houses in the Meda area, only two recently restored ones are preserved today.