Landmark Europe
Aqueduct of Segovia
The Aqueduct of Segovia is a very old Roman water bridge in Spain. Its big stone blocks stay up without any glue!
The Aqueduct of Segovia is a Roman aqueduct in central Spain that carried water into the city of Segovia. Built about 2,000 years ago from big granite blocks set without mortar, it crosses the city on two tiers of arches up to about 28 meters high. It is the symbol of Segovia.
The Roman aqueduct of Segovia, remarkably well preserved, brought water from the Guadarrama mountains to Segovia and crosses the city on two tiers of arches of dry-laid granite blocks. Its dates are debated: UNESCO gives about 50 AD in one text and about 50 BC in another, while Segovia's tourism office says the early 2nd century AD.
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Aqueduct of Segovia
The Aqueduct of Segovia is in Spain. It is a bridge that carried water, not people.
It has two rows of arches, one on top of the other.
The Aqueduct of Segovia stands in the city of Segovia, in central Spain. An aqueduct is a long channel that carries water from one place to another. This one brought water from the Guadarrama mountains into the city.
Where it crosses the valley, it rises on two tiers of stone arches. UNESCO says it is remarkably well preserved and calls it the symbol of the city.
The Old Town of Segovia, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, stands on a rocky bluff where the Eresma and Clamores rivers meet. UNESCO singles out its Roman aqueduct as the best known of Spain's surviving Roman aqueducts, for its size, its excellent state of conservation and its striking place in the city, and calls it the symbol of Segovia.
The aqueduct is part of the World Heritage Site 'Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct', inscribed in 1985 (minor boundary change 2015) under criteria (i), (iii) and (iv).
- Where
- Segovia, Castile and León, Spain
- Height
- about 28 m at the lowest point of the valley
- Arches
- 167
- World Heritage
- part of the Old Town of Segovia, inscribed 1985
Water for a Roman town
The Romans built this aqueduct about 2,000 years ago.
Water ran along the very top of it!
The Romans built the aqueduct about 2,000 years ago to bring water to Segovia. Experts do not all agree on the exact date: different sources place it between about 50 BC and the early 100s AD.
The water flowed in a channel along the top of the arches. It fed cisterns, which are big water tanks, and public fountains in the town.
Its date is uncertain in the sources: UNESCO's short description says 'probably built c. A.D. 50', its statement of value says 'probably built c. 50 BC', and Segovia's tourism office gives the early 2nd century AD, in the reign of the emperor Trajan.
Water flowed through the channel at the top, feeding cisterns and public fountains. The tourism office notes that sand traps cleaned the water by letting particles settle; one survives at the Casita de Piedra, a few meters above the start of the arches, though it is not entirely Roman in construction. The aqueduct's route under the streets to the Alcázar has been documented since medieval times.
Granite without mortar
The aqueduct is made of big granite blocks.
The builders did not use any mortar to stick them together!
The aqueduct is built of large granite blocks set 'dry', without any mortar to hold them together.
The arched part is more than 800 meters long, and the whole aqueduct, from its source in the mountains, is more than 16 kilometers long. At its highest point the arches rise about 28 meters.
Segovia's tourism office describes the aqueduct as large granite blocks set dry, without mortar. It gives 167 arches, an arched section of 959 m, a total length of 16,186 m from the source in the Guadarrama mountains and a maximum height of 28.10 m.
UNESCO's figures differ slightly: an enormous masonry structure 813 m long, in four straight segments, with two superimposed arcades carried on 128 pillars, standing 28.5 m above the ground at the lowest point of the valley.
A symbol of the city
The aqueduct is on Segovia's flag!
Long ago, it was even stamped on coins made in the city.
The aqueduct is so important to Segovia that it appears on the city's flag and coat of arms. It was also used as the mint mark on coins made in Segovia.
UNESCO says the aqueduct can in no way be separated from the city. Other important monuments stand in the old town too, such as the Alcázar and a cathedral from the 1500s.
As a symbol, the aqueduct appears on Segovia's flag and coat of arms and served as the mint mark on coins struck in Segovia. UNESCO writes that it 'can in no way be separated from Segovia as a whole'.
The World Heritage property also includes the Alcázar, begun around the 11th century, several Romanesque churches, noble palaces of the 15th and 16th centuries, the 16th-century Gothic cathedral, which UNESCO calls the last built in Spain in that style, and the Segovia Mint, which it calls the oldest industrial building still standing in Spain.
- Total length
- 16,186 m from its source
- Arched section
- 959 m (tourism office); 813 m (UNESCO)
- On the city's flag
- yes, and on its coat of arms
Arches over the square
In this photo, people walk under the giant arches. They look tiny next to them!
This photo was taken on 24 September 2009. The aqueduct's two tiers of arches march across a wide square, getting smaller and smaller into the distance.
People stroll and take pictures below the huge pillars, and town buildings, some with red-tiled roofs, stand behind them.
The photograph (24 September 2009, by Bernard Gagnon) looks along the arcade across a paved square: tall granite pillars, the lower and upper tiers of round arches, the line of the channel along the top, visitors in the square and town buildings beyond.
UNESCO says early legal protection has helped the old town and its aqueduct keep their original location, form and design, and that their status as classified monuments has helped preserve them.
Amazing facts
-
There is no mortar between the stones!
The aqueduct's big granite blocks were set 'dry', without mortar to hold them together.
Segovia's tourism office describes the aqueduct as built of large granite blocks set dry, without mortar.
-
The aqueduct is on Segovia's flag!
The aqueduct appears on Segovia's flag and coat of arms.
The aqueduct appears on the city's flag and coat of arms and was the mint mark on coins made in Segovia.
-
Sand traps helped keep the water clean!
Sand traps let dirt settle out of the water before it reached the city.
Water quality was ensured by decanting in sand traps, which removed particles carried in the water.
Words to know
- aqueduct
- a channel built to carry water a long way, sometimes on a bridge
- granite
- a very hard rock often used for building
- mortar
- a paste used to stick bricks or stones together
- arch
- a curved shape that holds up a bridge or a doorway
- cistern
- a big tank for storing water
- tier
- one of several levels placed one above another
Discovery challenge
-
What did the aqueduct carry?
What did the channel on top of the aqueduct carry into Segovia?
What did the aqueduct's top channel deliver to Segovia's cisterns and public fountains?
- Water
- Trains
- Cars
Show the answer
Water
Water!
Water, from the mountains.
Water from the Guadarrama mountains.
-
In which country is the Aqueduct of Segovia?
In which country is the city of Segovia?
In which country is the World Heritage Site 'Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct'?
- Spain
- Japan
- Kenya
Show the answer
Spain
Spain!
Spain, in Castile and León.
Spain, inscribed in 1985.
-
What holds the stones together?
What was used between the aqueduct's granite blocks?
How were the granite blocks of the aqueduct laid?
- Nothing: they are set without mortar
- Glue
- Nails
Show the answer
Nothing: they are set without mortar
Nothing! The stones just sit on each other.
Nothing: the blocks were set dry, with no mortar.
Dry, without mortar.
-
Who built the aqueduct?
Which ancient people built the Aqueduct of Segovia?
Which civilization's hydraulic engineering produced the aqueduct?
- The Romans
- The Vikings
- The Incas
Show the answer
The Romans
The Romans!
The Romans, about 2,000 years ago.
Roman hydraulic engineering.
Nearby places
-
Watch
Landmark
Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial
The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial stands at the foot of the Guadarrama mountains, northwest of Madrid, Spain. King Philip II began it in 1563, and it was finished in 1584. Inside its granite walls are a monastery, a church, a royal palace, a school and a famous library.
-
Watch
Landmark
Museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado in Madrid opened in 1819 to show the paintings collected by Spain's kings and queens. Its stone building was first planned as a science museum. Today it holds about 8,600 paintings, including the world's most complete collections of the Spanish painters El Greco, Velázquez and Goya.
-
Watch
City
Madrid
Madrid, the capital of Spain, sits almost exactly in the middle of the Iberian Peninsula, high on a flat plateau. Once a small fortress, it became the royal capital in the 1500s. About 3.5 million people lived there in 2025.
-
Watch
Landmark
Burgos Cathedral
Burgos Cathedral is a Gothic cathedral in the city of Burgos, in northern Spain. Builders laid its first stone in 1221 and finished the dome over its center in 1567. Its front has two lacy stone spires, and it has been a World Heritage Site since 1984.
- Watch Natural wonder Cave of Altamira The Cave of Altamira, in northern Spain, holds some of the most famous prehistoric paintings in the world. People who hunted and gathered their food used the cave between about 36,000 and 13,000 years ago, and painted and engraved bison, horses, deer, hands and signs on its walls and ceiling. It was the first cave where prehistoric cave art was ever recognized.
-
Watch
Landmark
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is an art museum in Bilbao, Spain, designed by the architect Frank Gehry and built from 1993 to 1997. Its swirling shapes are covered with about 33,000 thin sheets of titanium, and it stands beside the Nervión River.
-
Watch
Landmark
Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba
The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, in southern Spain, began as a mosque built in 786–788. Rulers made it bigger three times over the next two centuries, and since 1236 it has been the city's cathedral, with a tall cathedral hall built inside it from 1523. Its many rows of columns hold up striped arches, and it is part of a World Heritage Site.
-
Watch
City
Valencia
Valencia is Spain's third-biggest city, with 841,558 people at the start of 2025. The Romans founded it in 138 BC on a small river island. Farming and trade were long the base of its economy, and its port shipped oranges and rice. A park 7 km long now fills the old bed of the Turia river.
Explore next
-
Watch
Country
Spain
Spain covers most of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Its middle is a high, flat plateau, the Pyrenees mountains stand between it and France, and almost 50 million people live there, with Madrid as the capital.
-
Watch
Landmark
Pont du Gard
The Pont du Gard is a Roman bridge in southern France that carried an aqueduct, a channel for water, across the Gardon River. Built about 2,000 years ago, it has three levels of arches and stands almost 49 meters high. Water once flowed along its top on its way to the city of Nîmes.
-
Watch
Landmark
Colosseum
The Colosseum in Rome is an ancient Roman amphitheater, an oval arena with seats all around. Built between about 70 and 80 CE, it held about 50,000 people, who came to watch shows. Today it is one of Rome's major tourist attractions.
-
Watch
Landmark
Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial
The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial stands at the foot of the Guadarrama mountains, northwest of Madrid, Spain. King Philip II began it in 1563, and it was finished in 1584. Inside its granite walls are a monastery, a church, a royal palace, a school and a famous library.
-
Watch
Landmark
Aqueduct of Valens
The Aqueduct of Valens is a bridge of arches in Istanbul, Türkiye, 971 meters long with 86 arches. It carried a water channel across a valley between two hills. It is named after the emperor Valens, and a research project at Radboud University dates its construction to 368 to 373.
-
Watch
Landmark
Aachen Cathedral
Aachen Cathedral in western Germany grew around the Palatine Chapel, the chapel of Emperor Charlemagne's palace, built around the year 800 with eight sides and a dome. A tall Gothic choir with very tall windows, called the Glass House, was added from 1355 to 1414. German kings were crowned here until 1531, and in 1978 it became a World Heritage Site.
-
Watch
Landmark
Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis is a steep, flat-topped rock in the middle of Athens. Walls have ringed its top for more than 3,300 years. In the 400s BCE, the Athenians built a grand gateway and three temples there, including the Parthenon. Restorers are still repairing them today.
-
Watch
Landmark
Afsluitdijk
The Afsluitdijk is a dike 32 kilometers long in the Netherlands. It runs between the provinces of North Holland and Friesland and closes off the IJsselmeer lake from the Wadden Sea. Its last gap was closed on 28 May 1932, and for more than 90 years it has helped protect a large part of the country from floods.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain what an aqueduct is and how Segovia's brought water to the city.
- Describe how stone arches can stand without mortar.
- Compare different sources' numbers and dates and discuss why they can disagree.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Sources give different dates for the aqueduct. How do historians decide when something was built?
- The stones stand without mortar. Why might careful cutting be enough to hold them up?
- Why might a city put a building on its flag?
Try at home or in class
- Build an arch from sugar cubes or wooden blocks without glue. What helps it stand?
- Make a slope with a gutter or half pipe and pour water to see how a gentle slope moves water.
Key vocabulary: aqueduct, granite, mortar, arch, cistern, tier
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct (World Heritage List) , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Aqueduct , Turismo de Segovia (Segovia City Council)
- File:Aqueduct of Segovia 08.jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.