Concept in Definition ABC

A village is a nucleus of population. It was the ancient Romans who used this word to originally refer to a settlement rural type intended for exploitation agricultural. Farm workers lived in these places and were mostly slaves. With the passage of time another modality was introduced, the urban villa, where the owners lived.

Is in the Middle Ages when the current concept of villa begins to consolidate. A village was a population nucleus larger than a village but smaller than a city. The cataloging of villa la provided by the feudal lords as a distinction and was usually accompanied by a series of privileges (for example, many towns in Spain are known like Villafranca because in them you could enjoy some exemption in the payment of taxes or other Benefits).

To differentiate one town from another, each one of them incorporated another term that qualified them in some sense (Villamayor, Villaviciosa, Villamarta, Villarreal ...). This name is not exclusive to Spain, but also exists in Portugal, Italy and throughout Latin America.

In the Middle Ages the municipalities that had this name were far from the urban centers, as was the case in ancient Rome. For this reason, its inhabitants had other traditions and from the religious point of view they practiced pagan cults contrary to the Catholicism. This circumstance caused the religious authorities to refer to its inhabitants in a derogatory way and to villains with a discriminatory nuance and not simply in its literal sense, that is, the one who lives or inhabits in a town. Thus, the word villain is currently used as a synonym for delinquent, although it is a term little used and almost in disuse.

The stately villas

A villa is also a type of distinguished house, also known as a manor villa. They are generally palatial in style, that is, they are not a palace but they have a certain resemblance.

Originally, the stately villas were associated with a institution medieval manor (a territory that the monarchs donated in inheritance to a noble for some reason). This ancient sense also evolved and nobles and wealthy people began to build their houses using the word villa and with a complementary name (usually with a woman's name). A distinctive element of some of them is the incorporation of the coat of arms or the family crest on the entrance portico.

In many Spanish cities it is common to find a large mansion with the word villa very visible. Most of them were built prior to 1940, as from this date another term, chalet, was introduced.

To the contrary

Finally, and contrary to the meaning that has been explained so far, in some way trying to express a play on words, in some countries In Latin America, the case of Argentina, this word is used to understand a group of humble dwellings, based on settlements informal.