Morella aqueduct . Also known as Séquia Reial, it is located in the municipality of Morella , Castellón Province ( Spain ). It is a Gothic- style hydraulic infrastructure built between the 13th and 14th centuries .
Description
Underground zone of the aqueduct
In 1273 , Jaime I donated the spring of the Vinatxos fountain for the supply of water to the city of Morella, which until then only had that of Avellanar and that of El Romeu, and the Bassa del Poll and Bassa del Prat within the urban nucleus.
In 1315 , Jaime II authorized the Consell de Morella to build an aqueduct that would carry the water from the Vinatxos spring to Pla de Sant Llàcer (or Santa Llúcia). In 1338 the current succession of arches was built, and in 1359 the water was able to reach Pla del Sol (today Font Vella).
Throughout history, the aqueduct has had to be repaired on several occasions. In 1391 some arches near the hermitage of Santa Llúcia fell, which were repaired by Guillem Palma. In 1421 some economic amounts were allocated for the works of the La Pedrera arches. And in 1739 again wall reinforcement works were made. Still in 1845 the Morella City Council appealed to the reconstruction of the fallen sections.
In the middle of the 20th century , the canalization was modernized by introducing a polyethylene tube in the tunnel to avoid water loss. The use of this canalization for agricultural irrigation was known until the 1960s. In 1992, the earthworks of the construction of the new highway destroyed a large section of buried canalization, losing any trace of the start of the aqueduct.
Aqueduct tunnel with Morella in the background
It is an aqueduct that allowed the arrival of water from the Vinatxos fountain aquifer to the Plaza de La Font, in the urban center of Morella, where the cistern is located. Along the route of the aqueduct, the structural solution adapts to the topography. Thus, where the contour lines allow it, the work rests directly on the ground, creating a large masonry canalization that is the tunnels. On the contrary, when it is necessary to save a valley, large arched structures are erected on which the canalization continues. They are linear works of semicircular arches and ogival ones, made with masonry and ashlars, which give the height that makes the flow of water possible. There are two sections of arches, that of La Pedrera and that of Santa Llúcia. Once in the urban core, the water reaches the cistern in the Plaza de La Font.
Component parts
- Vinatxos Fountain: it is the water catchment point of the aquifer, which is currently a watering hole for livestock.
- Tunnels: buried sections made up of two parallel masonry walls, covered by a half-barrel vault, inside which water ran over a row of carved stone channels. Not all sections are preserved.
- Arcos de Santa Llúcia: composed of two overlapping series of pointed arches, it has a length of 120 meters, a thickness of 1 meter and a height of 14.50 meters. Made of ashlar and masonry.
- La Pedrera arches: made up of two superimposed series of arches (those of the lower body are pointed, and those of the upper half point), it has a length of 140 meters, a thickness of 1 meter and a height of 13 meters. Made of ashlar and masonry.
- Cistern: large tank and monumental façade, on which is the Plaza Vella, which preserves the medieval paved stone pavement. A spout comes out of the cistern façade that pours water into the troughs, which are badly damaged.
