Spain has a rich and varied history and, perhaps because it remained unravaged by the bombing of the Second World War, much of this history remains.
Nowhere, in my (admittedly limited) experience, is this more true than in Segovia.
As much as anything because it is right there, right now, history in your face.
You can’t avoid it.
I runs right through the centre of the city. It’s unavoidable and totally captivating.
It’s an aqueduct.
At some point in time – around 2,000 years ago, some local Roman ruler decided that the water over there…… like way over there…. would be useful over here.
So the architects started on their calculations… remember, you are basically building a stone channel across a few kilometres with a gradual decline so the water will run without overflowing anywhere.
The scene at their design meeting would have gone something like this….
It’ll need to go across this valley, so at this point it’s going to need to be about 200 feet high, OK?
Oh…. and you can use as many slaves as you want, but we’ve got no heavy machinery – they didn’t realise this at the time, but a JCB digger would have been a massive help – as well as a huge crane.
No… the rocks will need to be brought here and then stacked to form the arches. Oh, and we’re not going to use any cement. Just make sure the stones fit nicely, one on top of the other.
And, we want it to last 2,000 years or so – because we’re anticipating needing water for at least that long.
Meeting over, they set off and built it.
To spec.
And here we are two thousand years later with a city that has grown around its feet.
Famous for the many restaurants that sell suckling pig (so tender they carve it for serving with the side of a plate and a flourish), this incredible monument to Roman construction is still the dominant feature of Segovia’s city centre.
And how could it not be?
Everything around it pales to insignificance.
For the Romans it was a means to an end. Move water from over there to over here.
Now it is a monument. It no longer carries water. But it is steeped in history, it is dripping from its arches.
And as Segovians go about their daily business this incredible testament to the Roman Empire runs through the centre of the city, Just as it has done for the past two millennia.
And will probably do for the next two.
The Roman architects would have been very proud.
