Aljibes de las Peñuelas, Melilla: A Historic Water-Storage Complex
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Crown of Castile, Spanish
- Site type
- Infrastructure
- Remains
- Cistern
On this page10 sections
History
Aljibes de las Peñuelas, in Melilla, Spain, is a monumental water-storage complex built in 1571 to expand the water capacity of the Plaza de los Aljibes. The work involved the master stonemason Domingo de Onnacchca and supplemented the earlier Aljibe Viejo. The complex lies in the Plaza de la Maestranza of Melilla la Vieja, the city’s historic fortified quarter, beneath the present plaza.
Construction and early use
The new installation was designed as part of a water-management system with a filter, settling chambers, and storage cisterns. Its purpose was to increase the supply available in the plaza, where the older Aljibe Viejo already existed. Water first passed through the filtering stages before reaching the main storage spaces.
The complex was cleaned in 1680. In 1699, changes in enemy artillery led to a major alteration. The installation was filled with earth, while the left settling chamber was changed into a fountain to improve the safety of residents.
Alterations and later preservation
A ramp to the Enramadilla was attached to the front of the complex in 1800. It was demolished at a later date. The cisterns continued in use until around 1891, when animals contaminated the water. They were closed in 1947 during work to improve the Plaza de los Aljibes.
During Melilla’s fifth centenary in 1997, the western cistern and its settling chamber were opened with a closed water circuit that recreated the original operation. A later restoration removed that circuit. The eastern settling chamber was subsequently opened, followed by the eastern cistern on 28 November 2018. The complex forms part of Melilla’s historic-artistic ensemble and is protected as an Asset of Cultural Interest, a Spanish legal designation for protected cultural heritage.
Remains
The surviving complex is arranged as a filter, two settling chambers, and two cisterns. The settling chambers occupy the ends of the installation, while the cisterns lie between them. This sequence separated the stages of water treatment from storage beneath the Plaza de los Aljibes.
Settling chambers and filter
Settling chambers
The two settling chambers are rectangular rooms measuring approximately 4 by 8 metres and about 2 metres high. Each is covered by a barrel vault, a continuous vaulted ceiling with a semicircular or similar arched profile. Their function was to let suspended particles sink before the water entered the main cisterns, while the system filtered out the finest particles.
Filter
The filter formed part of the treatment sequence connecting the settling chambers with the storage spaces. Together, these elements prepared the water before it reached the cisterns, preserving the functional organization of the complex.
Storage cisterns
Eastern cistern
The eastern cistern is a deep rectangular chamber measuring approximately 4 by 8 metres and about 13 metres deep. Its barrel vault is reinforced by transverse arches, which span across the vault and strengthen it. Restoration preceded its opening on 28 November 2018.
Western cistern
The western cistern has the same deep rectangular character described for the storage chambers, with a barrel vault reinforced by transverse arches. It was opened together with the western settling chamber in 1997, when a closed circuit demonstrated the movement of water through the complex. A later restoration removed that circuit.
