Aqueduct of Luynes
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Aqueduct of Luynes
OR:
Aqueduct of Luynes on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The Aqueduct of Luynes is a former
Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
aqueduct located in Luynes,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.


Description

The remains show a stack of five
arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
es and it is the most famous
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
monument in the
Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of
Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...
, despite its modest dimensions. It is also one of the best preserved of the Northern aqueducts. It was classified a
historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
in 1862 and is owned by the town of Luynes. It originally had a total length of , almost in a straight line, including of raised causeway. Its underground portion, and in particular its final journey, passes the hamlet of Villeronde. Only a portion of the aqueduct-bridge is now visible as it passes through the "Valley of the Arennes". The actual channel for the water is masonry and not a lead or
terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
piping and has a slope of 1.5 cm to 2.9 m per kilometre. The maximum height of the arches of the aqueduct is 8.90 m.


History

The remains of the aqueduct-bridge are located 1.5 km northeast of the centre of Luynes, in Indre-et-Loire. It has a general orientation of north-northeast to south-southwest, taking water from the now dry
Pie Noire A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie), brown sugar (sugar pie), sweete ...
(or Pinnoire), and is believed to have supplied water to ancient Luynes, or even
Caesarodunum Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
. It has been conjectured, however, that the aqueduct was privately owned and serviced the complex of private villas at Sainte-Roselle. Its construction has not yet been dated with certainty; the construction style would indicate the 2nd or 3rd century, like the resort that it fed. It remained in use until the 12th or 13th century and has been the subject of several repair campaigns, especially at the beginning of the 10th century, under
Charles the Simple Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a memb ...
,aqueduc-de-luynes
which is why it has survived so well, even if number of stones of its collapsed piles had to be recovered and used. This suggests that its use has changed throughout this period, despite the abandonment of the seaside resort of Sainte-Roselle.


See also

*
List of aqueducts in the Roman Empire This is a list of aqueducts in the Roman Empire. For a more complete list of known and possible Roman aqueducts and Roman bridges see List of Roman bridges. Aqueducts in the Roman Empire See also * List of aqueducts Map of Roman Aqueduct ...
*
List of Roman aqueducts by date This is a list of aqueducts in the city of Rome listed in chronological order of their construction. Ancient Rome Modern Rome * Acqua Vergine Antica ** built in 1453 ** source: springs in Salone, east of Rome ** length: ; underground from ...
*
Ancient Roman technology Roman technology is the collection of antiques, skills, methods, processes, and engineering practices which supported Roman civilization and made possible the expansion of the economy and military of ancient Rome (753 BC – 476 AD). The Roma ...
*
Roman engineering The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...


References

{{coord, 47.39724, 0.56836, format=dms, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Roman aqueducts in France