Vardo (Romani wagon)

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A vardo (also Romani wag(g)on, Gypsy wagon, living wagon, caravan, van and house-on-wheels) is a four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle traditionally used by travelling Romanichal as their home.^{[1]: 89–90, 168 [2]: 138} The name vardo is a Romani term believed to have originated from the Ossetic wærdon meaning cart or carriage.^[3] It is pulled by a single horse in shafts, sometimes with a second horse (called a sider or sideliner) hitched on its right side outside the shafts to help pull heavier loads or assist in pulling up a hill.^{[1]: 89–90, 168 [4]: 20} The vehicle is typically highly decorated, intricately carved, brightly painted, and even gilded. The Romanichal tradition of the vardo is seen as a high cultural point of both artistic design and a masterpiece of woodcrafter's art.^[5]

The heyday of the caravan lasted for roughly 70 years, from the mid-nineteenth century through the first two decades of the twentieth century. Not used for year-round living today, they are shown at the cultural gatherings held throughout the year, the best known of which is Appleby Horse Fair in the town of Appleby-in-Westmorland in Cumbria, North West England.^[6]