The Aqueduct of Segovia
Friday, 29th February 2008 by Alex Turnbull
This is the Aqueduct of Segovia, which was probably built during the second half of the 1st Century AD, and is one of the most significant and best-preserved Roman monuments in Spain.
Technically, this is just the bridge part of a much longer aqueduct which carries water to Segovia from 17 kilometres away. It is only when the aqueduct crosses Segovia's Plaza Azoguejo that it really becomes a sight to behold. This ancient engineering masterpiece is comprised of 167 arches reaching up to 28.5 metres!
Some of the height is obvious in the Google Image thanks to the fantastic shadow, but here's some ground level photos that give you a good sense of scale, and here's another that conveys how incredibly old this structure is.
Thanks to Ignacio Sanz.
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
when i went to spain when i was 12, this aqueduct was one of the most impressive things ever. I still remember to this day walking the streets of segovia and rounding a corner and boom there it was. I’ve seen many an aqueduct, but this one by far has been the most impressive.
It has an incredible height and it’s in the middle of Segovia, so you can cross by walking underneath. Two thousand years and it’s still magnificent. It’s worth the visit.
And to think for the first thousand years it was covered in hay bales.
Unfortunately that other famous Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard in France is not covered by very high resolution imagery… https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=k&hl=en&ll=43.946562,4.535873&z=16 Perhaps that’s why it was not yet featured in GSS?
dr.R., I’ve wanted to post the Pont du Gard for years! As soon as the imagery is there, we’ll do it 🙂