The 80-kilometers-long aqueduct of Gades (the Latin name for Cadiz) once carried drinking water to Cádiz from the springs of Tempul, and used to be one of the largest in the Roman Empire. Historians believe that it was built over an earlier Roman road, which was later replaced by a more modern road in the 17th century. The road and the aqueduct were destroyed in 1755 by a tidal wave triggered by the great earthquake in Lisbon. This tsunami swept through Cádiz and Huelva, killing over a thousand people.
After the deadly tsunami, the road and the aqueduct remained hidden for centuries. Until one morning in 2018 after a heavy storm the local residents were astonished to see the remains of a Roman aqueduct and parts of a stone road revealing themselves from the shifting sands on the beach.
“We knew the aqueduct’s route passed this way but we had never seen it,” said Moisés Camacho of the Association for the Investigation and Dissemination of Cádiz’s Heritage.
Two of the five fragments that have been uncovered were still held together with ancient mortar, which is a rare find.
The remains were found on Cortadura beach; and now can be seen near Plaza Asdrúbal.
