Canal de Castilla
_Canal_de_Castilla,_ramal_de_Campos_(RPS_03-05-2009).png)
The Canal de Castilla (Castilian Canal ) in northern central Spain was built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and was one of the most important infrastructure projects of its time in Spain. It is considered an engineering masterpiece.
The canal, about 8 m wide, was intended to simplify the transport of grain from Castile to the port cities on the north coast, drive flour mills and serve as the main irrigation artery for the agricultural areas of the Tierra de Campos region in Castile. Since the advent of the railroad, he has only had the last two functions.
location
The canal is located in the northern and central part of the North Meseta in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León and flows through parts of the provinces of Burgos , Palencia and Valladolid .
With three arms and a total length of 207 km, it is shaped like an upside-down Y-shape. The northern arm, which runs essentially parallel to the Río Pisuerga , begins in Alar del Rey in the northeast of the province of Palencia. In Calahorra de Ribas it crosses the Río Carrión , which supplies it with water, and the canal forks at Grijota near Palencia . Palencia itself is connected via a branch canal. The southern arm continues parallel to the Río Pisuerga to Valladolid . The southwestern branch ( Ramal de Campos ) flows through the agricultural landscape of the Tierra de Campos and ends in Medina de Rioseco in the province of Valladolid; from it branches about 10 km southwest of Paredes de Nava, the Canal Cea-Carrión, begun in 1994 and meanwhile almost completed .
prehistory
The preliminary considerations for the construction of canals date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, the impetus was the development of artificial waterways in other parts of Europe. In 1549 Bartolomé Bustamante began a feasibility study of how the Pisuerga could be used for hydrographic projects. In the 18th century, at the time of Ferdinand VI. These considerations were dusted off at the initiative of the Marqués de la Ensenada and pursued further. The underlying idea was to stimulate economic development by improving the infrastructure and better connecting the respective economic centers. Two projects were finally started: the Canal Imperial de Aragón and the Canal de Castilla .
Construction of the canal
Construction of the canal began in 1753 under the direction of Carlos Lemour and Antonio Ulloa. The aim was to connect Reinosa ( Cantabria ) with El Espinar ( Segovia ). However, economic and political difficulties hindered the work and led to the downsizing of the project. Ferdinand VII was forced by the lack of public funds to found the "Royal Society of the Castilian Canals" ( Real Junta de Canales de Castilla ) in 1828 and to put the further construction and operation of the canal in private hands. In 1850, the successor Sociedad Anónima del Canal (Kanal AG) began to operate and market the canal after more than a hundred years of difficulties and delayed construction work.
Economic benefit
Until the inauguration of the Venta de Baños -Alar del Rey railway line in 1860, grain transport by ship was the main economic benefit of the canal, weakened by competition, the movement of goods collapsed completely with the commissioning of the Valladolid - Medina de Rioseco railway line. This left only the energy generation at the locks (drive of flour mills, later electricity generation) and the irrigation (approx. 23,000 ha) as economic moments of the canal.
Cultural and ecological importance
Today the large upside-down 'Y' that flows through the region of Castile-León in a north-south direction forms an important natural area. The bank area is overgrown with reeds and cattails in many places , followed by a kind of gallery forest with elms , poplars and white poplars , ash trees , willows , hazel bushes and honeysuckle . At the edge of the gallery forest there is a third zone of bushes. Marsh harriers , herons , swans and geese birds live along the canal .
The numerous locks, flour factories, mills, harbors, storage buildings and quays have been integrated into the cultural and tourist infrastructure of the region through various projects along the canal or are intended for this purpose. The towpaths along the canals are also increasingly being used for cycling and hiking tourism. The Way of St. James leads along the southern bank between the villages of Boadilla del Camino and Frómista .
Web links
- Aerial photos - Google Maps
- Site of the Canal de Castilla
- II. International Congress "El Canal de Castilla": Gran parque lineal de Castilla y León
Coordinates: 41 ° 44 ′ 58 " N , 4 ° 38 ′ 49" W.