5 Magnificent Aqueducts of the Ancient Roman Empire
An aqueduct is a channel or pipe used to transport water from a
remote source to a desired location, such as a town, city, or
agricultural area. The simplest, most primitive form of aqueduct was
used in early Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. It consisted of nothing more
than an open canal dug between the river and the city where water moved
by gravity alone. More complicated aqueducts were later developed in
Persia (modern-day Iran), but it was the Romans that turned this
necessity into spectacular architectures and engineering marvels that
survive to this day.
The Romans constructed aqueducts to bring a
constant flow of water into cities and towns, supplying public baths,
fountains and private households. The aqueducts were built from a
combination of stone, brick and the special volcanic cement pozzuolana.
While the great archways leave a definite impression, the bulk of the
Roman waterway system ran below ground. Channels bored through rock, or
dug below the surface carried water where it was convenient and
possible. Only where valleys or lowlands intervened, the conduit was
carried on bridgework, or its contents fed into high-pressure lead,
ceramic or stone pipes and siphoned across. Of the approximately 415 km
in the aqueduct system present, only about 48 km consisted of the
visible, mammoth arched structures.
Aqueduct of Segovia
The
Aqueduct of Segovia is one of the most significant and best-preserved
ancient monuments left on the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. The aqueduct
is the city's most important architectural landmark and was in operation
right to the 20th century. The aqueduct transported waters from Fuente
Fría river, situated in the nearby mountains, some 17 km from the city.
It runs another 15 km before arriving in the city.
At its
tallest, the aqueduct reaches a height of 28.5 m including nearly 6 m of
foundation and supported by a total of 167 arches.
The aqueduct
is built of unmortared, brick-like granite blocks. During the Roman
era, each of the three tallest arches displayed a sign in bronze
letters, indicating the name of its builder along with the date of
construction. Today, two niches are still visible, one on each side of
the aqueduct. One of them is known to have held the image of Hercules,
who according to legend was founder of the city. The other niche now
contains the images of the Virgen de la Fuencisla (the Patroness of
Segovia) and Saint Stephen.
Pont du Gard
The
Pont du Gard crosses the Gardon River in Remoulins, in southern France.
It is part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50 km-long structure built by the
Romans to carry water from a spring at Uzès to the Roman colony of
Nemausus (Nîmes). Built in the 1st century AD, the Pont du Gard is the
highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges and is the best preserved after
the Aqueduct of Segovia.
The bridge stands 48.8 m tall and
descends by a mere 2.5 cm – a gradient of only 1 in 3,000 – which is
indicative of the great precision that Roman engineers were able to
achieve using only simple technology. The whole aqueduct itself descends
in height by only 17 m over its entire length of 50 km.
The
aqueduct is estimated to have carried 200,000 cubic meter of water
everyday to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nîmes. It
continued to be used possibly until the 6th century, with some parts
used for significantly longer, but lack of maintenance after the 4th
century meant that it became increasingly clogged by mineral deposits
and debris that eventually choked off the flow of water.
After
the collapse of the Roman Empire and the aqueduct's fall into disuse,
the Pont du Gard remained largely intact due to the importance of its
secondary function as a toll bridge. For centuries the local lords and
bishops were responsible for its upkeep in exchange for the right to
levy tolls on travellers using it to cross the river, although some of
its stones were looted and serious damage was inflicted on it in the
17th century. It attracted increasing attention starting in the 18th
century and became an important tourist destination. It underwent a
series of renovations between the 18th and 21st centuries, commissioned
by the local authorities and the French state, that culminated in 2000
with the opening of a new visitor centre and the removal of traffic and
buildings from the bridge and the area immediately around it. Today it
is one of France's most popular tourist attractions.
Valens Aqueduct
The
Valens Aqueduct was believed to have been built by the Roman Emperor
Valens in the late 4th century AD, whose name is borne by the aqueduct.
It was restored by several Ottoman Sultans later, and is one of the most
important landmarks of the city.
The Valens aqueduct, which
originally got its water from the slopes of the hills between Kağıthane
and the Sea of Marmara, was merely one of the terminal points of a
complex system of aqueducts and canals. The total length of the network
exceeds 250 kilometers - the longest such system of Antiquity - that
stretched throughout the hill-country of Thrace and provided the capital
with water.
The Aqueduct of Valens had a length of 971 meters
and a maximum height of 29 meters with a constant slope of 1:1000.
Except for a bend to allow the the construction of the Fatih Mosque, the
aqueduct runs perfectly straight. The aqueduct stands in Istanbul, in
the quarter of Fatih, and spans the valley between the hills occupied
today by the Istanbul University and the Fatih Mosque. The surviving
section is 921 meters long, about 50 meters less than the original
length.
Pont de les Ferreres
The
Pont de les Ferreres also known as Pont del Diable in Catalan or
Devil's Bridge in English is a 249 meter long aqueduct that is part of
the Roman aqueduct built to supply water to the ancient city of Tárraco,
today Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The Tárraco aqueduct took water
from the Francolí river and fed the population of Tarragona, 15
kilometers south of the river.
The date of construction of the
aqueduct is uncertain. Some believe that it was built during the era of
Augustus in 1st century AD, a date which coincides with the date of
expansion of the city. The aqueduct was in use until the Middle Ages,
during which it was repaired several times, including in the 10th
century under Abd ar-Rahman III., Caliph of Córdoba. Various measures
aimed at the preservation of the buildings were carried out in the 18th
to the 20th century.
Acueducto de los Milagros
The
Acueducto de los Milagros is a ruined Roman aqueduct bridge, part of
the aqueduct built to supply water to the Roman colony of Emerita
Augusta, today Mérida, Spain.
Only a relatively small stretch of
the aqueduct still stands, consisting of 38 arched pillars standing 25
meters high along a course of some 830 meters. The structure originally
brought water to the city from a reservoir called the Lago de
Proserpina, fed by a stream called Las Pardillas, around 5 km to the
north-west of Mérida.
It is thought to have been constructed
during the 1st century AD, with a second phase of building (or
renovations) around 300 AD. In later centuries, the inhabitants of
Mérida dubbed it the "Miraculous Aqueduct" for the awe that it evoked.
The aqueduct is preserved as part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
