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Friday, 10 September 2010
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Almunecar Life
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Aqueducts of AlmunecarAqueducts of Almunecar
The evidence of the fish salting an curing industry discovered in Parque El Majuelo revealed the rebuilding and modernisation undertaken by the the Romans. This was, no doubt, a sizeable industry of the time and needed a constant supply of fresh running water. This requirement led to the Romans building, in the first century A.D., 8km of water conduit in the valleys of the Rio Seco and the Rio Verde including five significant aqueducts. All, remarkably, are still standing and four of them are still in use after 2,000 years - adapted by the Moors over the centuries to serve the needs of crop irrigation. The Roman water supply also served the town and recent excavations in the town centre have uncovered the fifth aqueduct and the Roman baths. The water supply system consists of the main channel with its manholes and shafts, several small and four major aqueduct bridges of one or two tiers, a 350m long tunnel, and a siphon section just outside the town. The upper parts of the aqueduct are still in use. The sources of the aqueduct are unknown, but the known section of the aqueduct starts just north of Torrecuevas. The aqueduct channel is mostly buried and is 50 cm wide and 75 cm high, covered by a vault. The channel walls are 45 cm thick, and the vault 30 cm. There are round and square maintenance shafts at regular intervals of about 100m with an internal diameter of 85 cm. Such shafts occur at each side of the aqueduct bridges, with a depository basin of 90 cm deep at the bottom of the shafts. The tunnel has dimensions of 170 x 70 cm. The northernmost presently visible element of the aqueduct is a low bridge just north of Torrecuevas in the valley of the Rio Verde. This bridge can be reached by taking the country road to Granada from Almuñécar. The bridge is known as the Torrecuevas aqueduct. The bridge has 19 arches, with piers of 6 roman feet square and 17 arches with a span of about 15 feet, while two have 10 feet spans. There are high-water openings in the upper parts of the piers of this aqueduct. At the northern end, water could be tapped from the main channel through a small tube (visible below the house that is built along side the northern part of the bridge). This aqueduct bridge is still carrying water and is now used for irrigation. The second section of the aqueduct is visible in the Rio Seco. Just south of the bridge that carries the main road over the Rio Seco, it is possible to drive into the river bed, which is dry most of the year and accessible with a normal car. Three major aqueduct bridges are visible along the Rio Seco, but they are poorly visible behind the trees in the plantations that flank the road. This section of the aqueduct is also still used, but has a metal pipe in the channel, and taps giving access to it at regular intervals. The final part of the aqueduct to the town, thought to have been a siphon, is 38 m deep and 1100m long. Some elements of the siphon section of the aqueduct are two parts of a one-tier bridge that were discovered some years ago, completely buried by the sediment of the Rio Verde. It can be seen from the road that leads north from the central square at the east side, together with the ruins of a small bathhouse. This section of arches ha lost the channel, however some of it is visible against a supporting wall on the south side. Two of the piers are ornamented with pilasters, and it is thought that the roman coastal road passed through the arch flanked by these piers. This part of the aqueduct must have been part of the siphon bridge. Nothing is presently known about the final section and castellum aquae of the aqueduct, but there are claims that the receiving tank of the siphon may have been a pyramidal structure in the upper part of town, probably destroyed in the 16th century, but described by Arab sources. We urge the planners to strongly consider preservation of this unique history and major tourist attraction when debating planning applications. |
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