"It is considered one of the most important hydraulic engineering works of the 18th century in Spain. It allowed water to be brought from the Guadalmedina to the city through its 10.8 km length, with 33 bridges, 30 aqueducts and several coffers. It was designed by the architect Martín de Aldehuela , its construction taking place between October 1782 and September1784 .
The promoter of the project was José de Molina Lario y Navarro , bishop of the diocese of Malaga . The reasons why the work was carried out were the large and growing population of Malaga and the commercial boom that the city was taking. Carlos III , through the mediation of the Count of Floridablanca , approved the project by Royal Order of 9/21/1782.
The Quintana stream aqueduct is the longest of the total, with 170 meters in length, 15 meters in height and 13 openings with semicircular arches, having completed the restoration works in December 2009 .
The current owner of the aqueduct is the Fundación Benéfica Caudal y Acueducto de San Telmo, chaired by the bishop.
History
In the prosperous and demographically expanding Málaga of the last quarter of the 18th century , the historical problem of water supply increased after a period of drought . To solve it, the then bishop of the city, the enlightened Don José Molina Lario y Navarro , financed and promoted the construction of an aqueduct that, taking water from the Guadalmedina river , brought it closer to the population in a route of almost 11 kilometers , through the which also contributed the element for agricultural irrigation and driving force in the mills . The patron saint of sailors, San Telmo , lends one of the names by which the engineering work in question is known, because the economic benefits generated by the aqueduct were applied to the maintenance of the Nautical College , another interesting illustrated creation of Bishop Molina Lario.
A Royal Order of Carlos III in 1782 authorized the construction and on September 7 , 1784 the water arrived in Málaga at the main ark located on Calle Refino. The person in charge of the project and direction of the construction was the architect José Martín de Aldehuela , who made a work in addition to practical sense and high technical interest, loaded with aesthetic intention, evident both in the nobility of the pure forms and in the use of different construction materials and the application, even, of plaster with color.
The surroundings of the Aqueduct in the Ciudad Jardín neighborhood have recently been valued to improve the space and recover it for citizen use.
Description
Features
The San Telmo Aqueduct measures 10.87 kilometers. The layout can be divided into two parts, one rural , from the water catchment to the San José farm , still in use, and another urban, from said farm to the main Ark on Refino street, a section that is in disuse. and in poor condition. It runs with 33 sewers , 2 tunnels , numerous ponds , vents , breaks, fountains and associated mills and 30 bridges. Among them are several of its most monumental landmarks and of high scenic value, such as the bridge that crosses the Humaina stream, seventy-five meters long and fifteen meters high, or the one that flies over the Quintana stream, the longest of all . It shows different sections along its route: square of sixty centimeters on each side, rectangular of forty-two centimeters wide by twenty-eight centimeters high, and two circular ones, one of twenty-eight centimeters in diameter and the other of twenty centimeters.
The route presents an irregular layout due to the difficult topography of the terrain, having to overcome significant heights, such as steep hills with a steep slope that enclose the dense drainage network of the river , with a part of its layout on the surface and another underground. It proposes two solutions for bringing water, a covered canal for drinking water and an open ditch for irrigation, as well as numerous bridges. This intricate morphology is magnificently reflected in the Plan of the New Aqueduct of the City of Malaga, from the 1786 edition .
The aqueduct originates from an 18th century mill , called Molino del Inca, whose water intake from the Guadalmedina River is eight hundred meters away, through a diversion weir . This starting point, the Intake or Dam made with brick , and the water shoulder under the dam built in masonry with heavy stones intended to contain the force of the floods of water, is located under viaduct number 4 of the Highway A-45 PK 138.5. Next, the aqueduct crosses the Ahorcado stream, continues through a siphonand crosses the Humaina stream. Then comes the Álamo Mine and, after passing the accesses to Málaga, it crosses a wine press to reach the San Telmo Mill and cross the Hondo stream. It reaches two other mines separated by the Arroyo Quintana Bridge and a third after crossing the Melero stream. Then it reaches the Camero Bridge, crosses the Olletas Bridge and crosses the city of Malaga until it reaches the main Arca on Refino street.
Construction elements of the rural section
Of the emerging constructive elements, the following stand out:
The Bridge of the Blind, made of brickwork and with two eyes formed by two semicircular arches and abutments.
The La Apartá Bridge, with a single eye of a semicircular arch, made of brick and supported by abutments.
The Arroyo Humaina Bridge, seventy-five meters long and fifteen meters high, with four spans with a single height level and a single order of semicircular arches, made of brick that overturn on pillars and with buttresses of prismatic shapes . . The square-shaped pillars carry triangular cutwaters upstream and semicircular cutwaters downstream.
The Bridges of La Majadilla, El Ahorcado and El Pastelero, which follow the same scheme, built of brick, with a round arch eye supported by two abutments.
The two buildings of the Molinos de San Telmo that, although they are currently in disuse, are in a very good state of conservation. Both are of quadrangular proportions, with a ground floor and an upper floor. The first has two access openings of different sizes, with small windows on the ground floor and elongated windows with a parapet on the upper floor; The structure of the mill is located at the rear, with two semicircular arches made of brickwork that serve to evacuate water. The second repeats the same scheme, differing by the greater regularity of the openings on the ground floor.
The Arroyo Hondo Bridge, 45 meters long and 15 meters high, with two eyes formed by semicircular arches 5.4 meters in diameter, is made of brick. The abutments and cutwaters are hexagonal prisms.
Continuing the route in the direction of the city there are four more bridges with the same characteristics, a single eye with a semicircular arch and abutments.
Once past the highway , the aqueduct emerges in a mine exit made with brick walls. In order to save sudden changes in the slope and reduce the velocity of the flow, several steep falls closed with masonry walls are located in this area.
In the Puente de las Barrancas, with only one eye and partially destroyed, it is possible to appreciate the decoration of large squares in white stucco with remains in the interior of ocher yellow and fragments of incised bricks painted in red ocher .
The so-called Bridge of the Five Eyes, of which two remain visible.
The Arroyo Quintana Bridge, the longest of the entire Aqueduct, which had thirteen eyes -of which ten are preserved, although it is popularly called eleven eyes- the center with the greatest light.
The Arroyo Melero Bridge and the Aceitero Bridge.
Constructive elements of the urban section
Already inside the city we find very significant constructions:
The main Ark or Alcubilla mayor, located at the confluence of Refino, Carrera de Capuchinos and Postigos streets. It is a polygonal construction covered by a bell-shaped roof, with a plinth of jaspan ashlar masonry and the rest of brick masonry currently whitewashed; It shows a coat of arms of Bishop Molina Lario. In a niche , located on its main façade, there is a clay representation of the Divina Pastora of a popular character, which gives it the significance of a street chapel .
La Alcubilla in Plaza de la Merced , a quadrangular structure covered by a glazed ceramic roof with a curved profile, was moved from its original location next to the now-defunct La Paz Convent.
Finally, it is worth noting the sources related to the water supply from the San Telmo Aqueduct: La Fuente Olletas, La Fuente del Tempus Fugit , located in the square that exists in front of the entrance to the San Miguel Cemetery . The Patrocinio fountain , at the crossroads of Santa María Micaela and Luque streets with the Patrocinio and Capuchinos boulevards. The Olletas fountain and the fountain on Calle de Los Cristos which bears the date of 1790 and whose design is attributed to the architect José Martín de Aldehuela ."
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