The Ferreres Aqueduct: A Roman Water-Supply Bridge in Tarragona
Site at a Glance
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- Classical
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- Eras represented
- Classical
- Civilizations
- Roman
- Site type
- Infrastructure
- Remains
- Aqueduct
On this page11 sections
History
The Ferreres Aqueduct is a Roman water-supply bridge in Spain that carried water to Tarraco, the Roman city now known as Tarragona. Probably built in the first century AD under Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, it belonged to the expansion of Tarraco and the development of its upper city, which became the seat of the Concilium provinciae, the provincial council linked to the administration and imperial cult of Hispania Citerior. Its exact construction date is unknown.
Roman water supply
The aqueduct formed part of a larger system that captured water from the Francolí approximately 15 km north of Tarragona and conveyed it toward Tarraco. The route used the natural slope of the land before crossing the Barranc dels Arcs and continuing toward the city. At Tarraco, the water entered a castellum aquae, a settling and distribution tank, before passing into clay and lead pipes that served urban areas, including residential districts.
The aqueduct continued supplying Tarraco until the Middle Ages. Its later history included a restoration in the tenth century under Abd al-Rahman III, the Umayyad caliph of Córdoba who ruled from AD 929 to 961. Further repairs took place in the eighteenth century, followed by conservation work during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Restoration and protection
Bonaventura Hernández Sanahuja coordinated a comprehensive restoration in 1857. The aqueduct was declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest and a historic monument in 1905. In 2000, it became part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List under reference 875-009.
A major restoration campaign carried out from 2009 to October 2011 represented aspects of the Roman period, allowed water to pass through the upper channel, and clarified the materials, building methods, and workforce involved in its construction. Archaeological investigations in 2021 identified, recorded, and surveyed more than 50 sections of the Francolí aqueduct system. These investigations also exposed Roman concrete channels connected with the water-capture system.
Name and local traditions
The aqueduct is also known as the Pont del Diable, or Devil’s Bridge. Local legends say that the Devil built it in a single night but failed to finish before a rooster announced sunrise. One version tells of a young woman seeking a shorter route to water, while another concerns a compulsive gambler and a bridge between Mas Pastor and Mas dels Arcs. After Tarragona acquired the surrounding land, the Parc Ecohistòric del Pont del Diable was established in 2005 to protect the monument and its natural setting.
Remains
The surviving aqueduct bridge crosses the depression of the Barranc dels Arcs in a wooded setting near Tarragona’s Sant Salvador district, about 4 km north of the city centre. It is approximately 217 m long and reaches a maximum height of 27 m, excluding the water-conduit gallery, which rose about 2 m higher. Including the end sections that carried the specus, the covered water channel, over walls, the structure extends to approximately 249 m.
Bridge structure
Stone arcades
Two superimposed levels of arcades carry the bridge across the ravine. The lower level has 11 arches and the upper level has 25, producing 36 openings in total. The arches span approximately 6.30 m, while their height reaches about 5.70 m depending on the terrain. The structure is approximately 1.80 to 1.86 m thick, and the supports are spaced about 8 to 8.10 m apart. Its elevation is approximately 56.8 m on the north side and 56.4 m on the south side, creating a slight gradient of about 0.2 percent.
The bridge uses opus quadratum, a Roman technique based on regularly cut stone blocks. The slightly bossed blocks were laid with dry joints, without mortar, and came from the nearby Coves de la Pedrera hillside quarry. Small stones set in an opus caementitium core, a Roman concrete or rubble-and-mortar mixture, fill the interior of the piers.
Water channel
The specus occupied the upper level of the bridge. Its interior was lined with waterproof opus signinum, a lime-based mortar mixed with sand and crushed ceramic material. Deposits of lime sinter gradually covered parts of this lining. The channel’s slight gradient enabled water to continue moving through the aqueduct toward Tarraco.
Supply system
Francolí intake and approach
From its intake, the covered channel initially ran parallel to the Francolí. It then followed the contours of the land from the Pont del Codony, using the natural gradient to reach the Barranc dels Arcs. After crossing the ravine on the bridge, the channel continued along the former Camí de l’Àngel before entering Tarraco near present-day Avinguda Catalunya.
City distribution
At the city end, the water was gathered and clarified in the large castellum aquae. From there, a network of clay and lead pipes distributed it through Tarraco, including its residential area. The aqueduct therefore survives not as an isolated bridge, but as the most visible element of a longer system linking the Francolí water source with the Roman city.
