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bwat2013
I had to do a double-take when I saw the zaguan referenced here. How wonderful! Takes me back to my childhood in El Salvador where all of the houses that I lived in had zaguanes. It also inspires romance ... as I remember my sisters and their beaus chatting at the zaguan through the iron gates, as they were obviously not allowed in the house. Thank you!
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billiesue14
I've lived in New Mexico for fifteen years, and I have never heard the term zaguan. I think such structures are more commonly referred to as portals. Spanish architecture, and consequently New Mexican architecture, definitely has a Moorish flavor because Spain was part of the Ottoman Empire for over 600 years. Spain was recently freed from Moorish domination when they began their conquest of the New World so they brought that style with them. It is also evident in the patterns of Mexican tile that are very prevalent in New Mexico. Interestingly, local meteorologists have started referring to our dust storms as haboobs. I don't know if this Arabic word has survived since the early colonization of New Mexico or if it came back from the Middle East with returning soldiers.
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YogaJulie
Here's a picture of my Corrales NM house with the 1980's interpretation of the zaguan. Many from this era only had the arched entry with no doors; we added rustic doors to ours.
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