Aqueduct of Algeciras

Old photograph of the aqueduct.

The aqueduct today.

The Aqueduct of Algeciras (Spanish: Acueducto de Algeciras) is one of the most important buildings in Algeciras, Spain. Numerous textbooks, dictionaries and guidebooks cite this building as Arabic or Roman but it was built in the eighteenth century.

The image of the city from the hills nearby, with arches in the foreground and Gibraltar in the background Gibraltar was one of the most common postcards of the city during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. To provide water to the city, the aqueduct began construction in 1777, completed in in 1783. It had two sections, the farthest located in the suburb of El Cobre and precisely known Los Arcos del Cobre and a section nearest the neighborhood of La Bajadilla, now almost disappeared due to the large number of buildings that have been attached. It currently passes through the neighborhood of La Bajadilla.

The architect for the project was Pablo Casaus under the supervision of master plumber Florindo who had just completed a similar construction in Puerto Real. It has a series of arches of stone and brick with buttresses.