Hadrian Aqueduct of Corinth
The Hadrian Aqueduct of Corinth is one of the longest Roman aqueducts with a length of 85 km . It led the water of a spring, which rises 620 m above sea level near the place Stymfalia , into the ancient city of Corinth . It has an average gradient of 5 m per km and carried about 80,000 m³ of water per day into the city. Of the original 70 bridges, 22 are still detectable today. Depending on the subsoil, the aqueduct consisted of a channel carved into the rock or an underground channel.
history
Pausanias , who visited the city of Corinth between 150 and 160, was the only ancient author to report on this aqueduct. It was also he who assigned this hydraulic structure to the Roman Emperor Hadrian . Since Pausanias visited Corinth only a short time after Hadrian, this assignment is considered safe. Hadrian visited the city in 125/6 and 129/30. It is believed that construction began shortly after one of these visits. The completion of the aqueduct took place either while Hadrian was still alive - i.e. until 138 - or until the middle of the 2nd century. It is not known until when the aqueduct was used. The maintenance of the system was very costly. After the invasion of the Goths under Alaric I in 395, the population of Corinth decreased sharply. Therefore, it is believed that the aqueduct was abandoned during the 5th century.
In the 19th century, researchers William Gell , François Pouqueville , William Martin Leake , Ernst Curtius , Friedrich Theodor Vischer , Conrad Bursian and Spyridon Miliarakis visited Corinth and reported on the aqueduct. In 1881 it was decided to drain the Stymphalian Lake . The first tunnel of the Hadrian aqueduct was used for this. It was expanded and deepened. In 1901 it was decided to use the water from the Stymphalic springs to irrigate the Bocha plain between Kiato and Lechaion . Now the first tunnel was connected to the second tunnel of the ancient aqueduct with a new canal. The outlet was connected to a canal that fed the water to the Asopos .
description
At the Zaraka Monastery there was probably a basin in which the water from several springs was collected. A canal led the water north and then south around Lake Stymphalia to the entrance of the first tunnel. The course corresponded roughly to that of today's canal. The approximately 1070 m long Souri tunnel led the water into the Skoteini valley. A canal running along the northern edge of the valley led the water to the Prathi tunnel opposite. This runs on the edge of the Alonaki Mountains 20 m underground and has a length of 780 m. Both tunnels had manholes that were about 30-40 m apart in order to clean the tunnel.
In contrast to the current course, the water was directed south after leaving the tunnel. The canal, which was embedded in the ground, ran at the foot of the Tsoukana in a south-easterly direction. After passing through Platani to the west, he turned east and then south. To the west of the village of Gymno there was a sedimentation basin, which was removed shortly after the Second World War . Such basins, in which sediments were supposed to settle, were probably more common. The canal now ran east and turned south at the foot of the Dourmitza. Remnants of a retaining wall with seven arches are still preserved here. The aqueduct now ran diagonally through the high valley to face east at the foot of the Megalovouni. Over a distance of four kilometers, channels cut into the rock alternated with canals supported by walls.
Finally, the aqueduct changed through the valley, through which the Autobahn 7 runs today , to the foot of the Strongylo mountain. It ran first on the western foot, then on the north, and then turned south. A two-story bridge crossed the Xerias River. It is the largest and best preserved bridge of the Hadrian Aqueduct. It is 42.50 m long, 11.20 m high and 2.50 m wide. Now it has returned to the valley in which the motorway runs. Over the next 4 km, the structure was destroyed during the construction of the motorway. Then the canal ran west of the highway. The only settling basin that is still visible today is located at Alepotrypes. It is 40 m long and 11 m wide. The eastern outer wall was supported by six pillars.
To the east of Mount Debes, the canal turned towards Agios Vasilios and crossed the place. Then he turned north, passed the towns of Klenia and Chiliomodi to the west. After the town of Koutalas, it went west around the Arvanitis and reached the third tunnel, which led under the Spathovouni. Then he bypassed the Gerothanasi to the west and circled the Penteskouphi in the northwest. South of the Phlious Gate at a height of 191 m, the aqueduct crossed the western city wall of Corinth. This is also the last point on the structure that has been identified so far.
literature
Yannis A. Lolos: The Hadrianic Aqueduct of Corinth in Hesperia , 66, 2, 1997, pp. 271-314
Individual evidence
- ^ Pausanias: Travels in Greece , 2, 3, 5; 8, 22, 3