L'Aqueduc de Louveciennes (Louveciennes Aqueduct), sometimes called Aqueduc de Marly (Marly Aqueduct) is an aqueduct built in the 17th century under the reign of Louis XIV, located in Louveciennes (now in the French département of the Yvelines, in the west suburb of Paris). Now out of service, the aqueduct has been listed as a

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

since 1953. It was a part of the hydraulic network intended to provide water for the

Château de Marly The Château de Marly was a French royal residence located in what is now Marly-le-Roi, the commune on the northern edge of the royal park. This was situated west of the palace and garden complex at Versailles. Marly-le-Roi is the town that develo ...

and the Gardens of Versailles from the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

river, using a huge pump called the Machine de Marly. The aqueduct consists of 36 arches.From the Information board on the Aqueduct site. Its length is 643m for a width varying from 2 to 4.4m, and a height from 10 to 20 metres.cfm? Id=s0001987 The aqueduct of Louveciennes on Structurae
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History

It was built by

Jules Hardouin-Mansard Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Grand T ...

, then

Robert de Cotte Robert de Cotte (1656 – 15 July 1735) was a French architect-administrator, under whose design control of the royal buildings of France from 1699, the earliest notes presaging the Rococo style were introduced. First a pupil of Jules Hard ...

, from 1681 to 1685.Service régional de l'inventaire of Ile-de-France, general registry of the cultural heritage, French ministry of Culture, Base Mérimée IA00050205, in 1986 A monumental machine, called the machine de Marly, situated on the Seine river at Bougival, pumped water out of the river with the help of 14 paddle wheels. By pipes put on two paved inclines, the water was pumped up the 126 metres of the hill of Louveciennes. The water flowed into the reservoir at the summit of the tour du Levant ("East tower") at the north-eastern end of the aqueduct. Using gravity by a one metre wide and two metres deep canal, sealed inside with lead, the water was directed toward the tour du Jongleur ("tower of the Juggler") at the southern end of the aqueduct. From there, a

siphon A siphon (from grc, σίφων, síphōn, "pipe, tube", also spelled nonetymologically syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in a ...

ensured the supply of a reservoir called réservoir des Deux Portes and the nearby tanks of Marly and Louveciennes. The aqueduct was retired from service in 1866 and replaced by underground pipes. During the Siege of Paris (1870-1871), the tour du Levant was used as an observation point by the future German emperor William I and the chancellor Bismarck. This tower was renovated between 1998 and 2000.

Gallery

File:Aqueduc de Louveciennes tour du Levant.jpg, La tour du Levant, at the northern end and where the water came from the Machine de Marly. File:Louveciennes Aqueduc2.JPG, Arches of the aqueduct, north-east side, not far away from the tour du Levant. File:Aqueduc de Louveciennes arches coté sud-ouest.jpg, Arches on the south-east side, not far away from the tour du Jongleur. File:Aqueduc de Louveciennes tour du Jongleur.jpg, La tour du Jongleur, at the south end where a

brought water to the tanks of Marly and Louveciennes.

Notes and references

Sources

* Translation of the French article {{DEFAULTSORT:Aqueduc De Louveciennes Palace of Versailles Aqueducts in France

History

Gallery

See also

Notes and references

Sources