Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct

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NHK World Heritage 100 Series

Narration Text

The town of Segovia is in Central Spain. It is known for its ancient and medieval architecture. There is a 16th Century Cathedral in the city center. It is called "The Lady" because of its elegant appearance. This is the Alcazar, a fairly-tale castle.

The aqueduct was built during the Roman Empire around the 1st century A.D. It is 813 meters long and at its highest point rises to 28.5 meters. The water way is supported by 128 arched pillars. Over 20,000 granite blocks were used in the construction. The aqueduct brought water into the town until the end of the 19th century. No kind of mortar was used to hold it together. Stones are simply laid next to each other. For the arches, masons first made semi-circular frames in wood and then piled stones on top. After all the stones were laid the wooden frame was removed. Each stone is held in place by the others. They support each other to maintain equilibrium within the arch.

The La Acebeda River was the source of the water supply. River water was irrigated via a water channel before reaching the aqueduct, 18 km from the source. It reached the intake point in town flowing through a 30 centimeters-wide channel on top of the aqueduct. Water first ran into the cistern inside the shed. Here leaves and natural litter in the water would be removed and clean water would flow into the town. The aqueduct was designed to supply the same amount of water throughout Segovia. The aqueduct bridges were built at different heights to maintain a consistent channel gradient which in turn insured even distribution. This Roman aqueduct supplied water to the town for nearly 2000 years. It is a fine testimony to the high standard of civil engineering techniques used by the Romans.