Traveling in USA: the secrets of the «witch Windows» Vermont

Traveling in USA: the secrets of the «witch Windows» Vermont

Traveling to Vermont, near new York, you will notice the unusual architectural element of the old farmhouses. The locals call it «witch window» («witch window»). Actually, this is a window, Yes not simple, but inverted, mounted not vertically but diagonally, and underneath the cornice in the pediment of the building.

Where did these unusual Windows and their very strange name?

It is obvious that the emergence of the term are some superstitious beliefs. One of them is the fact that a witch astride a broom can’t fly through the window if it is turned off. This explanation is logical and illogical at the same time. On the one hand, the right of people really can not exactly go in this window. But on the other hand, except «witch’s window», there is still an ordinary vertical Windows, through which a witch can fly there and back as her heart desires (provided that the soul she is).

Traveling in USA: the secrets of the «witch Windows» Vermont

Sometimes the «witch’s window» is also called «coffin window» («coffin window»), however, then the explanation is even more dubious. They say that these Windows were used for the removal of the coffin from the second floor of the house to bypass the narrow stairs. But what prevented to put the coffin in the house on the first floor, and then pull the deceased down and put it in a coffin already there? Hardly, this approach is inferior to the ejection of the deceased poor guy out the window (except entertainment).

Traveling in USA: the secrets of the «witch Windows» Vermontsource: wikimediaПрактичная the answer

So we see that «witches Windows» is not worth anything supernatural, except the pragmatism of local residents. Many of the old farm house was completed. When attached to the main building added an extension on the gable to the Windows, there is very little vacant land. Tilt Windows of 45 degrees allows you to place a window of standard size in this narrow but long stretch of wall between two adjacent lines of the roof, thereby saving space and getting the same amount of light and air, nestles in the room. Solid thrift.

Is it true that «witch’s window» are found only in Vermont?

«Witch’s window» is also often called «Vermont«. Therefore, it is fair to wonder whether they are the hallmark of one particular state. Experts of history of architecture say that it is also a myth. Yes, they are more common in Vermont, but such «lazy» window you will also find in the rural areas in new Hampshire, Maine, and other parts of New England.

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