In the Czech villages in Banat, we can see two basic types of houses. Gable-oriented houses (facing the street with their gable) and eaves-oriented houses (facing the street with their longer eaves).
The village gradually expanded and developed, and by the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, eaves-facing houses began to appear. The layout of the house remained the same, only the orientation changed.
Around the first third of the 20th century, a new type of house appeared, which was again eaves-oriented, but also had an elevated brick “half-floor” in the front of the house, known locally as a ferhejrunk. The facade of the half-floor was decorated with a pair of cornices and rosettes with metal grilles. In the attic space, wooden structures with shelves for storing food, called “palandy”, were attached to the raised roof. On the opposite side facing the yard, the half-floor was not built.
From about the 1950s onwards, there was extensive building activity, mainly because people were extending their houses with additional living rooms, passageways, enclosed porches, etc.
The oldest gable-oriented house, which was built in the third quarter of the 19th century.
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The konk, i.e. the veranda or covered porch, is a specific element of the house. It was usually added to older houses after they had already been built. Over the years, different materials were used. The veranda was always located along the longer side of the house and was always oriented towards the yard.
Sometimes it was separated from the yard by a railing, either of made of wooden sticks or planks. Later, windows of various shapes started to be set on brick bases. The covered porch was covered by a roof connected to the main roof of the house. The extensions could have involved changes in the angle of the roof and sometimes resulted in the symmetry of the house being broken.
From the beginning, the konk had a variety of functions. It protected the main entrance to the house, which was practical during bad weather. It could be used for drying laundry. The covered konk expanded the living area of the house and increased the thermal comfort of the house. In some buildings, it served as a summer kitchen or as a place for the bread oven.
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Projekt byl podpořen z prostředků Ministerstva zahraničních věcí ČR v rámci projektů veřejné diplomacie.
