Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Segovia

During part of my wandering around the Internet the other day I paid a call on a city some 55 miles from Madrid.  It is Segovia, and I used to go there many times to get out of the capital.

At the entrance to Segovia, stands this incredible piece of engineering.  It was built 2000 years ago and is the aqueduct that carries water over the sharp little valley of the city.

The Romans had come up with the keystone which is how the arches stay up, and they didn't use any mortar.

Day to day, traffic rumbles through these huge arches, and still it stands.  I don't know what sort of maintenance is carried out, but I suspect it's minimal.  And to think they did it all without building codes or planning departments with their intrusive inspectors!

It's easy to forget the great age of this structure, but I always used to spend a moment looking at it before I went off to find my favorite watering hole.  An interesting place and a wonderful time.

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