By Italian Staff 2015.03.30

Dear Bloggers,

today I will talk about a very old building, which dates back to Roman times, but we can still admire: roman aqueducts.

Roman aqueducts were very sophisticated construction, the level of quality and technology was unparalleled for over 1000 years after the fall of the Roman Empire.

For centuries the Tiber, springs and wells were able to meet the needs of the city until the urban development and population growth made it necessary to resort to other sources: it was then that, thanks to the skill of its builders, were realized aqueducts .

From that moment on, rushed to Rome a huge amount of drinking water, like no other city of the ancient world, but perhaps of all time, the city earned the title of "Queen aquarum," or "queen of the waters ".

The water was moving in the direction of the city thanks to no other force than that of gravity, ie the aqueduct acted as a continuous slide for all the distance that separated the sources from the point of its outlet.

To obtain this result, each of them was designed in such a way that each individual part of the long course was slightly lower than the previous one, and slightly higher than the next, so as to obtain an average slope calculated at around 2%.

These aqueducts were provided to the needs of a huge number of public facilities - spas, baths, fountains, even two stages for naval battles.

The water was considered state property intended for public use, but on special concession of the emperor or the payment of a specific tax, could also supply private homes.

Some of the ancient aqueducts are still in operation and is used to feed the fountains of the capital.

You just have to come and see!

See you soon!

Sara