The oldest dovecotes are thought to have been the fortress-like dovecotes of
Upper Egypt and the domed dovecotes of
Iran. In these regions the droppings were used by farmers for fertilization. Pigeon droppings were also used for leather tanning and making gunpowder. In some cultures, particularly
Medieval Europe, the possession of a dovecote was a symbol of status and power and was consequently regulated by law. Only nobles had this special privilege, known as
droit de colombier. Many ancient
manors in France and the
United Kingdom have a dovecote still standing (or in ruins) in a section of the manorial enclosure, or in nearby fields. Examples include
Château de Kerjean in Brittany, France,
Houchin, France,
Bodysgallen Hall in
Wales, and
Muchalls Castle and
Newark Castle in
Scotland.
Middle East Dotted with wooden pegs and hundreds of holes, the towers provided shelter and breeding areas for the birds to nest and raise their young in a mostly harsh desert environment. In Saudi Arabia, fourteen towers were spotted in 2020 and were the oldest seen in the Middle Eastern country. They have often been spotted in Iran, Egypt, and Qatar, where they have a lengthy history dating back to the 13th century. Dovecotes are also prevalent in ancient Iran and Anatolia. Pigeons were found in human settlements in Egypt and the Middle East since the dawn of agriculture, probably attracted to seeds people planted for their crops.
Iran In the 17th century, a European traveller counted up to 3000 dovecotes in the
Isfahan area of Persia (Hadizadeh, 2006, 51–4). Today, over 300 historic dovecotes have been identified in Isfahan Province and a total of 65 have been registered on the National Heritage List (Rafiei, 1974, 118–24). Dovecotes were constructed to produce large quantities of high-quality organic fertilizer for Isfahan's rich market gardens. The largest dovecotes could house 14,000 birds, and were decorated in distinctive red bands so as to be easily recognizable to the pigeons.
Cappadocia The dovecotes in Cappadocia are mostly designed like rooms which are set up by carving the rocks. The oldest examples of these cotes in the region were built in the 18th century but they are few. Most of the cotes in the region were built in the 19th and early 20th century (øúçen, 2008). It is significantly evident that the cotes were constructed near water sources, on a place, above the valley and their entrance, called as mouth of the cotes were mostly built in the east or south direction of valleys. By this way of construction, it was proposed to protect the cotes from cold and get sunlight inside. The cotes were generally constructed by carving the rocks as a room. In rare cases, it was built into the upper gallery of the lookout tower (for example at the Toul-an-Gollet manor in Plesidy, Brittany). Dovecotes of this type are called in French. Even some of the larger
château-forts, such as the
Château de Suscinio in Morbihan, still have a complete dovecote standing on the grounds, outside the moat and walls of the castle.
Colombiers and pigeonniers In France, it was called a
colombier,
fuie or
pigeonnier. With its extensive cultivation of grain, the favourite food of pigeons, France had 42,000 pigeonniers by the 17th century, especially in
Normandy and the
Midi. The dovecote interior, the space granted to the pigeons, is divided into a number of
boulins (pigeon holes). Each boulin is the lodging of a pair of pigeons. These boulins can be in rock, brick or cob (adobe) and installed at the time of the construction of the dovecote or be in pottery (jars lying sideways, flat tiles, etc.), in braided wicker in the form of a basket or of a nest. It is the number of
boulins that indicates the capacity of the dovecote. The ones at the chateau d'Aulnay in
Aulnay-sous-Bois and the one at Château de Panloy in
Port-d'Envaux are among the largest in France. In the Middle Ages, particularly in France, the possession of a
colombier à pied (dovecote on the ground accessible by foot), constructed separately from the
corps de logis of the
manor-house (having boulins from the top down), was a privilege of the
seigneurial lord. He was granted permission by his
overlord to build a dovecote or two on his estate lands. For the other constructions, the dovecote rights (
droit de colombier) varied according to the provinces. They had to be in proportion to the importance of the property, placed in a floor above a henhouse, a kennel, a bread oven, even a wine cellar. Generally, the aviaries were integrated into a stable, a barn or a shed, and were permitted to use no more than of arable land.
Greece ,
Greece Dovecotes in
Greece are known as , (plural). Such structures are very popular in the
Cycladic islands and in particular
Tinos, which has 1300 dovecotes. The systematic breeding of doves and pigeons as sources of meat and fertilizer was introduced by the
Venetians in the 15th century. Dovecotes are built in slopes protected by the prevailing north wind and oriented so that their facade is towards an open space.
Ireland Stone dovecotes were built in Ireland from the
Norman period onward, to supply meat to monastic kitchens and to
large country houses. A traditional dovecote was a multistorey building with inner walls lined with alcoves or ledges to mimic a cave. They survive in many parts of Ireland, with notable examples at
Ballybeg Priory,
Oughterard,
Cahir,
Woodstock Estate, Mosstown, and
Adare. Three Irish
Cistercian houses held dovecotes:
Glencairn,
Mellifont and
Kilcooley.
Italy Dovecotes were included in several of the villa designs of
Andrea Palladio. As an integral part of the
World Heritage Site "Vicenza and the
Palladian Villas of the Veneto", dovecotes such as those at
Villa Barbaro enjoy a high level of protection.
Netherlands and Belgium ,
Netherlands Dovecotes in
Belgium are mostly associated with
pigeon racing. They have special features, such as trap doors that allow pigeons to fly in, but not out. The
Flemish word for dovecote is . The
Dutch word for dovecote is , or for a smaller dovecot.
Spain Dovecotes in
Spain are known as a Palomar or Palomares (plural). These structures are very popular in the Tierra de Campos region and also has a scale model of this type of building at a theme park located in the Mudéjar de Olmedo. Other good examples are located at Museums located in Castroverde de Campos, (Zamora Province), Villafáfila, (Zamora Province), Santoyo, (Palencia Province) and the famous "Palomar de la Huerta Noble" in the municipality of Isla Cristina (Huelva Province) which was built in the 18th century to house 36,000 pigeons.
Transylvania The
Szekely people of
Transylvania incorporate a dovecote into the design of their famous gates. These intricately carved wooden structures feature a large arch with a slatted door, which is meant to admit drivers of carriages and wagons (although today the visitors are probably driving cars and trucks), and a smaller arch with a similar door for pedestrians. Across the top of the gate is a dovecote with 6–12 or more pigeonholes and a roof of wooden shingles or tiles.
England and Wales The Romans may have introduced dovecotes or
columbaria to Britain since pigeon holes have been found in Roman ruins at
Caerwent. However, it is believed that doves were not commonly kept there until after the
Norman Conquest. The earliest known examples of dove-keeping occur in Norman castles of the 12th century (for example, at
Rochester Castle, Kent, where nest-holes can be seen in the keep), and documentary references also begin in the 12th century. The earliest surviving, definitely dated free-standing dovecote in England was built in 1326 at Garway in Herefordshire. The Welsh name has itself become a place name (similarly in Cornwall: colomen, and ty = dove house). One medieval dovecote still remains standing on the site of a hall at
Potters Marston in
Leicestershire, a hamlet near to the village of
Stoney Stanton.
Scotland Scotland has a sizeable number of doocots, particularly concentrated on the east of the country in Fife and East Lothian where the richer arable fields provided grain for food. A gazetteer in Buxbaum lists 108 doocots as of 1987. Early purpose-built doocots in Scotland are often of a "beehive" shape, circular in plan and tapering up to a domed roof with a circular opening at the top. These are also found in the North of England and are sometimes referred to as "tun-bellied". In the late 16th century, they were superseded by the "
lectern" type, rectangular with a
mono-pitched roof sloping fairly steeply in a suitable direction.
Phantassie Doocot is an unusual example of the beehive type topped with a mono-pitched roof, and
Finavon Doocot of the lectern type is the largest doocot in Scotland, with 2,400 nesting boxes. Doocots were built well into the 18th century in increasingly decorative forms, then the need for them died out though some continued to be incorporated into farm buildings as ornamental features. However, the 20th century saw a revival of doocot construction by
pigeon fanciers, and dramatic towers clad in black or green painted corrugated iron can still be found on wasteland near housing estates in
Glasgow and
Edinburgh. Image:Corstorphine Castle doocot, Edinburgh.JPG|A castle doocot at
Corstorphine, Edinburgh (16th century) Image:Ross doocot, Linlithgow.JPG|Beehive-shaped doocot, Linlithgow, Scotland Image:Newark Castle doocot.jpg|At Newark Castle, Port Glasgow, a corner tower of the outer defensive wall was converted to a doocot in 1597 when the wall was demolished. File:Auchmacoy Dovecot 05.jpg|Doocot at
Auchmacoy,
Crawhead,
Aberdeenshire, built 1638 Image:Newark Castle doocot int.jpg|Looking up inside the doocot at
Newark Castle, Port Glasgow Image:Eglintondoocot.JPG| Image:doocotstables.JPG| Image:doocotnests.JPG| Image:Newbigging doocot, near Aberdour in Fife.JPG|Ruined doocot at Newbigging near Aberdour, Scotland, revealing the nesting boxes Image:Dovecote St Andrews.jpg|
Bogward doocot,
St Andrews, restored by the St Andrews Preservation Trust Image:Milton mcdowall mills.jpg|Mills at
Milton of Campsie with a tall doocot in the background File:Phantassie doocot (16thC), East Lothian.JPG|16th-century doocot at
Phantassie, East Lothian Image:Lady Kitty's Doocot, Haddington, East Lothian.JPG|Lady Kitty's doocot at Haddington, Scotland, incorporated into a garden wall Image:Sheriffhall Doocot - geograph.org.uk - 444397.jpg|Doocot converted from the stair tower of a demolished house at Sheriffhall near Dalkeith, Scotland Image:Rooftop doocots in the West Bow, Edinburgh.jpg|Two house doocots in the West Bow, Edinburgh, Scotland Image:East Morningside House doocot, Edinburgh, Scotland.JPG|Doocot in the grounds of a private house, Edinburgh, Scotland Image:Glasgow doocot Firrhill 1.jpg|Urban doocot in
Glasgow, Scotland Image:Glasgow doocot Partick 1.jpg|Urban doocot in Glasgow, Scotland Image:doocot at Elcho - geograph.org.uk - 1280869.jpg|16th-century doocot at
Elcho Castle, Scotland Image:Boath Doocot, Auldearn, Nairnshire - geograph-5524810.jpg|17th-century doocot at
Boath, Nairn, Scotland
North America dovecote In the U.S., an alternative English name for dovecotes is
pigeonaire (from French). This word is more common than "dovecote" in Louisiana and other areas with a heavy Francophonic heritage.
Québec City, Canada, has a pigeonnier that stands in a square in Old Québec; the Pigeonnier is also the name of the square itself and is where street artists present their shows. A notable frame dovecote is located at
Bowman's Folly in
Accomack County, Virginia, added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1974. ==Architecture==