Aqüeducte de les Ferreres
Coordinates: 41 ° 8 ′ 44 " N , 1 ° 14 ′ 38" E
| Aqüeducte de les Ferreres (Pont del Diable) |
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| use | Aqueduct to Tarraco | |
| place | Tarragona ( Spain ) | |
| construction | Arch bridge | |
| overall length | 217 m | |
| Number of openings | 25 (upper arcade) | |
| height | 27 m (without gallery) | |
| construction time | Probably 1st century AD | |
| Status | Out of service | |
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| Above sea level | 56.4 m | |
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The Aqüeducte de les Ferreres (also known as Pont del Diable , Catalan for "Devil's Bridge") is a Roman aqueduct that spans the basin of the Barranc de les Arcs near Tarragona in Catalonia ( Spain ) and water from the Francolí River into ancient Tarraco directed. It is one of the best preserved ancient aqueducts and is the largest in Catalonia.
location
The Aqüeducte de les Ferreres is located in a wood near the Sant Salvador district , about four kilometers north of the center of Tarragona.
history
The exact time when the aqueduct was built is unknown. It was probably built in the 1st century AD under the rule of the Emperor Augustus , at the same time as the expansion of Tarraco and the expansion of the city into the seat of the Concilium provinciae of Hispania citerior . The aqueduct was used to supply Tarragona with water until the Middle Ages. It was repaired several times, including in the 10th century under Abd ar-Rahman III. , the caliph of Cordoba . From the 18th to the 20th century, various measures were taken to preserve the building fabric.
As early as 1905, the aqueduct was classified as a "cultural asset of national interest" and in 2000 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Tarraco archaeological ensemble . After the acquisition of the entire area by the city of Tarragona, the Parc ecohistòric del Pont del Diable (" Pont del Diable eco-historical park") was created in 2005 to help protect the monument and its natural surroundings better.
facts and figures
The aqueduct bridge has a total length of 217 meters and reaches a maximum height of 27 meters, whereby the - today destroyed - upper part of the water channel covered with stone slabs, which was about two meters high, is not taken into account. The structure consists of twenty-five arches; the middle, two-story area has an additional eleven arches on the lower level. The arches have a span of about 6.30 meters, a height of up to 5.70 meters (depending on the shape of the terrain) and a thickness of about 1.80 meters. The distance from the center of the pillar to the center of the pillar is about 8.10 meters. The north side of the aqueduct is at a height of about 56.80 meters, the south side at 56.40 meters above sea level, from which a gradient of about 0.2% can be calculated.
construction
The foam walls of the aqueduct are made of regular, cuboid stone blocks with slightly embossed outer sides, all of which are of the same height and were put on top of one another without mortar ( opus quadratum ) ; They were probably already cut to the required size in the nearby Coves de la Pedrera quarry and delivered ready for relocation. The interior of the pillars consists of a concrete-like filling of small stones and mortar ( opus caementitium ) . The water-bearing channel was lined with an impermeable mortar ( opus signinum ), which was gradually covered by layers of sintered lime .
course
The water for the aqueduct was dammed and diverted about 15 kilometers north of Tarragona on the Francolí by means of a weir at Torre del Comte between the towns of Rourell and Puigdelfí . From there, the canal initially ran parallel to the river, then followed the course of the terrain and used the natural gradient from the Pont del Codony bridge until it reached the Barranc de les Arcs depression , which was overcome with the aqueduct bridge described here. The canal then followed the old Camí de l'Àngel route and reached Tarraco at what is now Avinguda Catalunya , where the water was filtered and collected in a large cistern, a castellum aquae (" water castle "). A network of clay and lead pipes provided water distribution in the city.
The legend of the Pont del Diable
The following story is told about the origin of the name of the Aqüeducte de les Ferreres as the "Devil's Bridge":
- “In the times of the Romans, the decision was made to build an aqueduct in view of the severe water shortage that Tarragona had to suffer from. For this it was necessary to span a deep gorge with a bridge. But just as the bridge was completed, a powerful wind came up and caused the entire structure to collapse. When the builder saw the misfortune, he said that only the devil would be able to build a bridge here that would last a thousand years. As soon as he had uttered these words, the devil appeared and offered to build a new bridge in just one night that would be permanent. The builder then offered him thirty sacks of gold to complete the work, but the devil refused the money and said that he would only accept the soul of the first person to drink the water from the aqueduct as payment. So it was agreed and the next morning the mighty bridge was completed over the gorge and the devil appeared to collect his agreed wages. The builder showed him a donkey, because it was the first to drink the water from the aqueduct ... "
The legend is similar to that of the Devil's Bridge in the Swiss Schöllenenschlucht .
Others
The aqueduct appears in the 1994 film La teta y la luna by Bigas Luna .
gallery
See also
- Acueducto de los Milagros (Mérida)
- Segovia Aqueduct
- Water supply in the Roman Empire
- List of Roman bridges
literature
- Xavier Aquilué, Xavier Dupré, Jaume Massó, Joaquín Ruiz de Arbulo: Tarraco. An archaeological guide . Médol, Tarragona 1992, ISBN 84-86542-54-5 , pp. 95-97.
- Theodor Hauschild in: Walter Trillmich and Annette Nünnerich-Asmus (eds.): Hispania Antiqua - Monuments of the Roman Age. Von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1547-3 , p. 332 and plate 114.
Web links
- Tarraco Archaeological Ensemble - UNESCO World Heritage (English, French)
