Xanten (Germany)
Roman aqueducts: Xanten (Germany)
Xanten - COLONIA ULPIA TRAIANA
The 9 km long aqueduct that supplied the Colonia Ulpia Traiana (CUT) with water,
had its sources in the wood Balberger Wald SW of Xanten (Germany). On the N and E
slopes there must have been a series of springs. The aqueduct channel built
in the second century partly on arcades,
conveyed the water over the valley to the present day town of Xanten. The
last past, just before the water entered the SE Vetera gate of CUT was also arcaded.
Of the conduit and the substructure almost no visible remains are left in situ.
Three cuts were dug out the Walberger Wald and were transported to the
Archaeological Park Xanten - the well equipped open-air museum on the site of CUT, see
APX - to the backyard
of a restaurant just outside the nearby village of Labbeck
and to a site close to the windmill of Sonsbeck 'Auf der Mauer'.
The course of the aqueduct inside the CUT is hardly traceable nor the Castellum
Divisorium has been found. Some remains of wells, reservoirs and sewers were found
and partly reconstructed in the APX-museum area.
A second aqueduct fed by springs in the S slope of the hills called Die Hees did not feed CUT,
as stated in earlier publications, but brought water to the nearby army camp castra Vetera II.
The present 'Drusus' spring may give a global impression about
one of the may sources of the Vetera aqueduct.
There are clear distinctions between the CUT and the Vetera aqueducts both in terms
of the difference in level and the construction characteristics. The two systems seem to
have operated separately. The army tile-works, however, received their water from the CUT
aqueduct.
Wilke D. Schram
Xanten - COLONIA ULPIA TRAIANA
Item
| Info
|
Length |
8,7 km |
Cross-section |
0,23m x ?? m |
Volume |
?? m3/day |
Gradient |
0,04 % |
Period |
Early 2nd Century |
Features |
|
Recommended literature :
| H. Berkel: Reste römischer Wasserleitungen im Raum Xanten, in:
Xantener Berichte vol 12 (2002) pag 129
|
Recommended website :
| Archaeological Park Xanten
|
How to visit :
| for the CUT area, see the recommended website. For separate parts of the aqueduct, see description above
|