8.1.10

A Roman aqueduct


When the Romans occupied Lutetia (Lutèce), the future Paris, during the first three centuries AD, they consumed a lot of water. The dwells, sources, rain and river water was not sufficient. There were at least three public baths, whereof the Cluny Baths still visible were the biggest, and many fountains. A lot of clean water was important. At least one aqueduct was constructed, leading water from south of the city. It seems that it had a capacity of some 2.000 m3 per day. Compared to those days’ population, some 8.000 (?), it would mean that their per capita consumption was comparable to what we today use as water!

There are still a few things left from the Roman times, the most visible are probably the “Arènes”, the amphitheatre (see previous post) and the Cluny Baths (see previous post). The Roman Forum was to be found close to where you can now find the Panthéon (see previous post), but nothing is today visible.

There are some timid traces of the aqueduct outside the city, but there seems to be only one today to be seen within the city limits; the other few rests are underground and the aqueduct's way through the present city is rather clear, the red dotted line. The visible rests can be found just north of the Parc Montsouris (see previous post) - marked here by the little yellow circle - and were obviously found and brought to light when some modern buildings were constructed.
When looking a bit closer, you can see that the Romans already knew how to manufacture water resistant concrete, reinvented much later.
I wish you a nice weekend!

43 comments:

Cheryl said...

History everywhere there! It's amazing anything that ancient has survived in a constantly evolving city.

Wishing you a good weekend too!

SusuPetal said...

Those Romans were ahead of their time, clever people.

It's about half a meter snow in Helsinki, -13 degrees.

Have a nice weekend, Peter.

Carole said...

Bonjour Peter,
Tu as l'oeil pour nous dénicher des truc toi alors !
Bonne journée !

Carole said...

Bonjour Peter,
Tu as l'oeil pour nous dénicher des truc toi alors !
Bonne journée !

Olivier said...

merci, je connaissais pas cette partie de l'histoire de Paris

Anonymous said...
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hpy said...

Avec toi on apprend quelque chose tous les jours. Enfin, on apprendrait si jamais tu te mettais à bloguer tous les jours.

Claudia said...

Fabulous!

Cergie said...

Ils étaient pas si fous ces romains, ils savaient déjà que l'eau est le bien le plus précieux (> conflits actuels dans le monde)

Adam said...

I thought that was some kind of spray paint until you zoomed in on the concrete! I'm sure there must be a lot more roman remains around the city, but there hasn't been enough destruction to unearth them!

Blind Fly Theater said...

OK, Peter. Wow, again. Amazing historical detail, from a time even before Paris was Paris. You've honed in on something here that I would've passed without notice upon my future first trip to Paris, had it not been for you gently nudging to its simple beauty and unadorned significance. The fact that the per capita water consumption then is comparable to today's is amazing in itself. And we think of ourselves today as technologically advanced in construction and engineering, when we've merely reinvented what was long ago reality.
Thanks Peter.
David *

BlossomFlowerGirl said...
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BlossomFlowerGirl said...

Unusual photo - I thought at first it was a loo in a wall. Very clever were the Romans.
Cheers.
Melbourne Daily Photo

Parisbreakfasts said...

Ooooooooooo
The first photo is absolutely perfect!
I love all the textures and the different bands..really quite abstract in fact.
your eye gets better and better Peter.

alice said...

La première photo serait parfaite pour un concours du "truc le plus mystérieux"!

Cezar and Léia said...

Hello dear Peter!
Hmmm it's really interesting!
Today I saw more about Roman period here, I visited the National Museum of History and Art with my son, it was a pleasant day.
I agree with our friends, the first picture is outstanding. I'm always learning something good here with your posts.
And...yes...Paris is the TOP in my list, and my son is waiting anxiously for this trip.
I'm just afraid of the weather... :(
as it will be only for weekend.My daughter needs to be here because the school schedule.
Have a great weekend dear friend!
Hugs
Léia

Rakesh Vanamali said...

It sure has survived the years! Ingenious!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Pietro Brosio said...

Interesting!
Happy weekend!

Anonymous said...
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claude said...

Ces romains, pas si fous que cela, nous ont laissé de beaux vestiges.
entre autres Pont du Gardn Amphithéâtre et Arènes, des voies roamains pavées et des voies d'eau.

richard said...

Those Romans! Such achievements, organisation and clear-headedness! It makes you wonder when you visit Italy these days - where did it all go?

Jilly said...

The Romans were incredible and really knew what they were doing. I remember seeing an old fortification in the south west of France with a water cooling system throughout the place, installed by the Romans. Air conditioning in those days!

Thérèse said...

Extra ce détail et ces explications...

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Alain said...

Tu es sur que ce n'est pas une farce ? On dirait qu'il est construit en nougat de Montélimar.

Cutie said...

Interesting fact. I was wondering what it was. hehe..

PeterParis said...

Cheryl:
When you start digging....! :-)

SusuPetal:
Snowy and cold a bit everywhere! :-)

Carole:
Les yeux de bloggeurs! :-)

PeterParis said...

Olivier:
Mais tu connais mieu l'histoire d'Evry! :-)

hpy:
Tous les jours... c'est too much pour moi! :-)

Claudia:
Thanks! :-)

PeterParis said...

Cergie:
Des fois l'histoire progresse, des fois elle régresse! :-)

Adam:
Of course the Roman constructions, the stones etc... were used to construct other things later. :-)

SparkleMirror:
You express your thoughts so wonderfully well! :-)

PeterParis said...

BlossomFlowerGirl:
Thanks for your visit here! I have to go hunting for Roman loos! :-)

ParisBreakfasts:
Of course with some help from my eye glasses! :-)

Alice:
Heureusement il y a une petite inscription sur le mur! :-)

PeterParis said...

Léia:
The let's hope for soon imporved weather! :-)

V Rakesh:
Only a small parcel, but anyhow... !:-)

Pietro:
Thanks! Now the weekend is gone so, sorry, too late to wish you the same thing! :-)

PeterParis said...

Claude:
Trope peu de traces, mais quelques unes! :-)

Richard:
Yes, too much is gone, but of course e.g. Rome is full of traces! :-)

Jilly:
Roman air conditioning, that's something! :-)

PeterParis said...

Thérèse:
Quand on voit une chose comme celle-ci, on a envie de comprendre! :-)

Alain:
Sacré farceur! :-)

Cutie:
So now you know! :-)

PeterParis said...

I managed to get three spams here, that's why some comments have been deleted.

Maya said...

Those Romans were so clever!

PeterParis said...

Maya:
Indeed! :-)

arabesque said...

when i read about the aqueducts, of course that would be the romans and my history when i was still studying! ^0^
great story!

PeterParis said...

Arabesque:
Happy if you appreciate! :-)

Karin B (Looking for Ballast) said...

"When looking a bit closer, you can see that the Romans already knew how to manufacture water resistant concrete, reinvented much later.

That's incredible. Just this one idea of how the Romans had what amounts to this kind of "modern" concrete pretty much blow my mind, and makes me think a dozen different things about the rise and fall of civilizations... Anyways, it's made me thoughtful, lol.

How interesting, too, to know this kind of thing is "out there" and waiting to be seen! :)

PeterParis said...

Karin:
When the weather gets warmer, we should try to make another tour together! :-)

Trotter said...

The Romans knew it all... ;)

PeterParis said...

Trotter:
... end then it was forgotten! :-)