Mont d'Or

Roman aqueducts: Lyon - Mont d'Or aqueduct (France) Lyon - LUGDUNUM

For the photo's, see below

The Mont d'Or is the oldest of the four aqueducts and also the shortest (26 km). It was built shortly after the foundation of the colony in 43 BC. The Mont d'Or got its water from sources 370 m high in the hills at the N-side of Lugdunum. Its slope was quite uniform. Midway, after 19 km, a small siphon (420 long and 30 m deep) was necessary to cross the valley of the brook called Limonest. Just before the La Fourvière hill a second siphon was built in the valley of Ecully, 3600 m long and 70 m deep.

Only on a few places traces of the original aqueduct are visible. Unfortunately no visible parts remain of the cleaning basin in Saint-Cyr-au-Mont d'Or. The aqueduct delivered its water at a height of 260 m, not enough for the upper parts of Lugdunum.

W.D. Schram

Lyon - LUGDUNUM

Item	Info
Length	26 km
Cross-section	0,44-0,55 m x 0,58-0,62 m
Volume	2.000 - 6.000 m3/day
Gradient	0,14 %
Period	Early Augustan
Features	2 siphons

Recommended literature :	M. Jean Burdy: Préinventaire des monuments et richesses artistiques I Mont d'Or (1987)
Recommended website :	Archeo Lyon
How to visit :	See M. Jean Burdy: Guide des Aqueducs Romains de Lyon (1999) and the Recommended literature

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Last modified: March 25, 2005 - Wilke D. Schram (w.d.schram@romanaqueducts.info)