Valencia de Alcāntara

For the photo's, see below
This aqueduct obtained its water from the spring(s) in the San Pedro region and brought it to the town (or villa?) now known as Valencia de Alcāntara in the SW of Spain close to the Portuguese border. The most striking parts of the aqueduct are the ruins just outside Valencia. The structure now looks as a siphon but was built as a aqueduct bridge over the Peje river. In 'modern' times (19th c) the ruins of the bridge were reused for a siphon in a newly built aqueduct - the top half demolished and the bottom half preserved to act as a venter - in order to bring water to Valencia again.

W.D. Schram

Valencia de Alcāntara

Item Info
Length 8 km
Cross-section unknown
Volume unknown
Fall ? %
Period unknown ?
Features
  • aqueduct bridge 125m long
  • in 19th c rebuilt as a siphon
  • only 3 complete roman arcs are left


Recommended literature : Acueducto Romano en Espaņa, F. Casado (1972)
Recommended website : none
How to visit : Take the N521 from Castelo de Vide (Portugal) to Caceres (Spain); 10 km after the P / Sp border and just before Valencia de Alcāntara, take the road to San Pedro and La Fontaņera. After 500 m turn left into a lane. After an other 500 m there is the aqueduct bridge.
HOME More literature on more aqueducts Last modified: March 25, 2005 - Wilke D. Schram (wilke@cs.uu.nl)


The original aqueduct bridge
Overview
The Roman part
The 19th c conduit

The south side
Detail