The Aqueduct of Nottolini was constructed in the early 1800s to supply water to fountains in the city of Lucca from hilltop springs four and a half kilometres to the south-east. Along the dead-straight line of 400 arches, the environment has been bent, or bent itself, to this structure: A tree whose protruding limb was cut back from the arches, leaving a heart-shaped scar in its bark; the autostrada A11, whose construction, by the Mussolini government in 1928, necessitated the replacement of two aches by a single extended arch over the roadway, which was later destroyed in 1944 by retreating Nazis before a further five arches were removed when the highway was widened in the 1960s; another tree, limbo-leaning away from the arches to gather light.
The aqueduct ends at “Golden Words,” a series of bridges, pathways, and channels near the base of Monte di Vorno, funnelling spring water towards the aqueduct. The name comes from the Latin inscription adorning a bridge in yellow brass. It’s enlightenment planning all the way through, punctuated by neoclassical tempietti-cisterns, farm buildings, and rural roads — the opposing lanes diverging around a central pier.
An example of ‘anthropological geology’, the aqueduct is constructed from blocks of stone and fired-earth stacked by people the arches will far outlive: by centuries, if not millennia. In the meantime, more temporary traces, trees, and human activities mould themselves around it: So when the aqueduct was decommissioned in the mid-20th century to be replaced by a modern system of underground pipes, guess where they laid them…
Today, taps rise from the ground every half kilometre or so, neatly attached to the piers. At late-morning, one finds local restauranteurs here filling baskets of glass bottles to provide this special water to their guests, directly from the source. Click an image to open in lightbox.
The Aqueduct of Nottolini was constructed in the early 1800s to supply water to fountains in the city of Lucca from hilltop springs four and a half kilometres to the south-east. Along the dead-straight line of 400 arches, the environment has been bent, or bent itself, to this structure: A tree whose protruding limb was cut back from the arches, leaving a heart-shaped scar in its bark; the autostrada A11, whose construction, by the Mussolini government in 1928, necessitated the replacement of two aches by a single extended arch over the roadway, which was later destroyed in 1944 by retreating Nazis before a further five arches were removed when the highway was widened in the 1960s; another tree, limbo-leaning away from the arches to gather light.
The aqueduct ends at “Golden Words,” a series of bridges, pathways, and channels near the base of Monte di Vorno, funnelling spring water towards the aqueduct. The name comes from the Latin inscription adorning a bridge in yellow brass. It’s enlightenment planning all the way through, punctuated by neoclassical tempietti-cisterns, farm buildings, and rural roads — the opposing lanes diverging around a central pier.
An example of ‘anthropological geology’, the aqueduct is constructed from blocks of stone and fired-earth stacked by people the arches will far outlive: by centuries, if not millennia. In the meantime, more temporary traces, trees, and human activities mould themselves around it: So when the aqueduct was decommissioned in the mid-20th century to be replaced by a modern system of underground pipes, guess where they laid them…
Today, taps rise from the ground every half kilometre or so, neatly attached to the piers. At late-morning, one finds local restauranteurs here filling baskets of glass bottles to provide this special water to their guests, directly from the source. Click an image to open in lightbox.
