San Lázaro aqueduct

The Rabo de Buey–San Lázaro aqueduct was one of the three main conduits supplying water to Augusta Emerita (today's Mérida, capital of the Roman province of Lusitania). Originally built in the 1st century AD, it drew water from the springs of Las Tomas, Valhondo and Casa Herrera, to the north and north-west of the city. The conduit ran mostly underground, except where it had to cross the hollow of the river Albarregas, for which a great two-storey arcade was built. The lower level had arches of eleven voussoirs on granite ashlar piers, while the upper part combined ashlar and brickwork. The aqueduct ran for close to 4 km and reached about 15 m at its highest, with a specus — the inner channel — less than 80 cm wide. Of the Roman stretch only three piers and the arches between them survive. In the 16th century a new aqueduct was raised on part of the original fabric, reusing Roman material. Declared a national monument in 1912 and listed in 1985, it forms part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993.

Type

Aqueduct

Preservation

Ruined

Protection

Listed · RI-51-0000113

Listed

13/12/1912

Coordinates

38.92296, -6.33540

Photographs

10