Playing knock Knock, who’s there in Spain: Spanish door knockers

Knock Knock, Who’s There?  Theodore!  Theodore who?  Theodore wasn’t open, so I knocked!

On the first house I lived in one of my favourite things I bought for the house was a cast iron door knocker of a cat happily sitting on top of a dog kennel.  This door knocker made me smile every time I arrived home.  The door knocker moved with me to a couple of houses but eventually it got left behind somewhere.  I’ve not had a door knocker that has made me so happy since and on our flat we don’t have one at all [electric intercoms don’t give me the same pleasure but they are practical].  Nevertheless I have retained my interest in handsome door knockers.

All over Spain we found plenty of door knockers worth stopping and admiring on their magnificent doorways.  On our latest trip I first started to give door furniture a thought while we were in the charming town of Aínsa.  Look carefully at one of the photographs above and you will see a door knocker in the shape of a pair of testicles.  Having this sort of fertility symbol nailed to your front door is apparently traditional in Spain.

After Aínsa I started to notice all sorts of decorative door knockers.  Some were fierce and unwelcoming or perhaps protective.  In the hill village of Pedraza I spotted a dragon, in Burgos I noticed a somewhat fierce dog [nothing like the cute one I had owned] and the magnificent door knocker with three snakes was in Albarracin.

As well as protective or bringing good fortune, these decorative and ornate door knockers are an outward display of wealth and status.  Attached to a front door they are often the first thing your visitors will note and are a visible indication of taste or your financial standing.  My cute cat and dog door knocker must have said oodles about me.

I’ll finish with another Knock Knock joke!

Author: Back on the Road Again Blog

I write two blogs, one about my travels in our campervan and living well and frugally and the second about the stories behind the people commemorated in memorial benches. View all posts by Back on the Road Again Blog