Roman Aqueduct of Moria: Roman Water Supply System in Greece
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Greece
- Primary era
- Classical
- Eras represented
- Classical
- Civilizations
- Roman
- Site type
- Infrastructure
- Remains
- Aqueduct
On this page8 sections
History
Roman construction and water supply
The Roman Aqueduct of Moria in Greece was built during the Roman period to supply the ancient city of Mytilene, on the site of the present city, with water from the southern mountains of Lesbos. Its construction is generally dated to the late second or early third century AD, broadly around AD 200–300. A less certain attribution connects it with the reign of Hadrian, the Roman emperor who ruled from AD 117 to 138.
The aqueduct began at the lake now called Megali Limni, on the northern side of Mount Olympus near present-day Agiasos. The lake was later drained, and additional water entered the system from springs along its route. The approximately 26-kilometre course passed through or near Aneraida, Paspala, Lambou Myloi, Larsos, Kamaroudia, Moria, Kiuczuk, and Loutza before reaching Mytilene.
Its calculated supply was approximately 127,000 cubic metres of water per day. The water served several urban purposes, including the fountains and baths of Mytilene. To maintain continuous gravity-fed flow across changing elevations and uneven ground, the system combined tunnels, channels, tanks, water bridges, and arched ducts.
Modern protection
Restoration began in 1995 under the supervision of the Directorate of Restoration of Antiquities of the Ministry of Culture. The work aimed to protect the surviving remains, including the long row of arches that forms the most recognizable part of the aqueduct near Moria.
Remains
Route and construction
The aqueduct extended for approximately 26 kilometres and used underground passages, tunnels, channels cut into rock, and elevated arched bridges. Its watercourse followed a continuous gradient so that water could move by gravity. The masonry included two parallel stone faces enclosing a rubble-filled core, a method known as emplekton. The raised structures also used opus pseudoisodomum, a technique consisting of roughly regular stone courses whose blocks are not all the same height.
Water bridges
Moria water bridge
The surviving monumental water bridge south and southwest of Moria is built from locally quarried grey marble. The best-preserved section is approximately 170 metres long, while the bridge itself has a maximum length of 117 metres and reaches 24.46 metres in height. It contains 16 rectangular pillars supporting 17 arched openings arranged across three successive tiers.
Each pillar has a capital with a bevel-edged cyma, a curved moulding, and an abacus, the flat upper element supporting the structure above. The stone facades are framed with a peritainion design. The arches, known as kamares, carried the water ducts at the top of the structure, rather than forming the entire watercourse. The ducts therefore completed the elevated section that carried water across uneven or depressed terrain.
Lambou Myloi remains
Further remains survive near Lambou Myloi, approximately 15 kilometres west of Mytilene. Other surviving sections occur at several points along the former route, preserving parts of the wider network that connected underground and rock-cut channels with elevated bridges and water-carrying ducts.
