The Consuegra Dam is a ruined
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 ...
buttress dam A buttress dam or hollow dam is a dam with a solid, water-tight upstream side that is supported at intervals on the downstream side by a series of buttresses or supports. The dam wall may be straight or curved. Most buttress dams are made of reinfor ...
in
Toledo province
Toledo is a province of central Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Badajoz, Cáceres, and Ávila. Its capital is the city of Toledo.
...
,
Castilla–La Mancha
Castilla–La Mancha (, , ), or Castile La Mancha, is an autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo, it was created in 1982. The government headquarters are in Toledo, and ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. The dam dates to the 3rd or 4th century AD.
It is on the River Amarguillo upstream from
Consuegra
Consuegra is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. In 2018, the municipality had a population of 10,098 inhabitants. It is 80 km from Ciudad Real and 60 km from Toledo. Consuegra is located in La M ...
.
Although less than 5 metres high, the dam was remarkably long, over 600 metres. The reservoir seems to have had a dual function of supplying water to Consuegra and irrigating farmland.
The settlement dates back to pre-Roman times and was important enough in Roman times to have a
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
.
The river Amarguillo has an irregular flow and in 1891 a flood badly damaged the town of Consuegra. The dam may also have suffered damage at this time.
Conservation
The structure is protected by the heritage listing ''
Bien de Interés Cultural
A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries.
The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense) and inclu ...
''.
See also
*
List of Roman dams and reservoirs
This is a list of Roman dams and reservoirs. The study of Roman dam-building has received little scholarly attention in comparison to their other civil engineering activities, even though their contributions in this field have been ranked alon ...
*
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered on ...
*
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 ...
Notes
References
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Further reading
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Ancient Roman buildings and structures in the province of Toledo
Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Toledo
Buttress dams in Spain
Roman dams in Spain
Water supply and sanitation in Castilla-La Mancha
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