The area of Francs, marjals and extremals up to the area of Castellar-Oliveral and Pinedo had and has a dense network of farmhouses (in Valencian/Catalan language named alqueries, originally in arabian language: al qariya) just like all the surroundings closest to the old town of the city of Valencia. However, not all of them are as old as those found in other areas of l’Horta of Valencia and this is due to the fact that in Modern times and especially in the Middle Ages it was the border area between the irrigated areas of the Turia irrigation canals and the wetlands, the limits of the Albufera. These limits were close to the original urban centre of Russafa until the 15th century.
It was the process of drying up, of channelling the surplus water for drainage, and the pressure from people to cultivate more land that led to the expansion and possibility of cultivation from the end of the 14th  century. In addition, the installation of houses, huts and farmhouses was also undertaken.
The densification of them took place from the 18th century onwards and especially in the 19th and first half of the 20th century. Consequently, most of the houses / farmhouses in the area were built in the last century and a half, with a construction continuity that was replacing huts by farmhouses or construction houses with the economic improvement of its inhabitants. A construction or reconstruction of houses that has reached the present day, moreover.
Additionally, it should be taken into account that we have a problem in the use of the name “alqueria” (farmhouse), since the densification of the population has occurred in two ways: with the houses dispersed in the middle of a plot, which we call “alqueries”, as well as the construction of houses lined up along the roads (for example, the Font d’en Corts or the Pinedo trails) or even in villages, as in the cases of Castellar and Oliveral. In order to form a building continuity, we do not call these “alquerías”, as part of them have the same functions as a farmhouse in the middle of the fields.
Obviously, this construction chronology, which is mostly from the last century and a half, involves different architectural styles, which are also related to the economic possibilities of their owners. For these reasons, the first inventories of farmhouses in the “Francs i Marjals” area have selected some of the existing buildings, focusing on those clearly older or those from almost a century ago that have some peculiar architectural feature. But all this also means that we still have a little confusion about what we value as a farmhouse in this orchard with a significant heritage value.

Font de Sant Lluís-Carrera d'en Corts

Castellar-Oliveral-Pinedo