The Roman Aqueduct in Segovia, Spain
N 40° 56.913 W 004° 07.090
30T E 405886 N 4533647
Segovia's most unique feature is its still-functioning ancient aqueduct. It was built by the Romans around 50 AD, and is designed to make water flow uphill. (Don't ask how that works!) Even more amazing, Segovia's aqueduct was built without mortar. The pillars, and the arches, of the structure were built simply by stacking large stones.
Waymark Code: WM14J
Location: Castilla y León, Spain
Date Posted: 09/08/2005
Views: 385
Constructed around A.D. 50, the Segovia aqueduct is one of the best preserved Roman aqueducts in Europe. A masterpiece of ancient engineering, it provided water to this Spanish city into the twentieth century and remains the city’s most prominent symbol. The workings of the Segovia Aqueduct extend for 14 kilometers under an urban complex that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Above ground, 120 pillars supporting its two-story arcade are preserved. Of these, 14 were rebuilt between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Despite its high profile and Segovia’s inscription as a World Heritage Site, the aqueduct is threatened by lack of maintenance, differential decay of stone blocks, water leakage from the upper viaduct, and in some areas pollution, which has caused the granite ashlar masonry to deteriorate and crack. Some preservation remedies have addressed the most urgent problems at the site in recent years, but a comprehensive management plan remains to be developed. The Segovia Historical Heritage Council proposes a four-year program to investigate and assess the overall conversation requirements of the site and to establish a conservation protocol for 2010 and beyond. The proposal calls for systematic documentation of the condition of the aqueduct, monitoring and recording of the condition of individual ashlar blocks of the exposed portions of the aqueduct and reduction of threats caused by bird and bat nesting, vegetation growth and pollution.
Related website: Not listed
When was it built?: Not listed
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