Sophie Bouffier, Vincent Dumas, Philippe Lenhardt and Jean-Louis Paillet, "HYDROSYRA Project. Some Reflections about the Ancient Aqueduct of Galermi (Syracuse, Italy)", in: Jonas Berking (Ed.), Water Management in Ancient Civilizations, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2018, 297–320

Abstract

Since 2012, the Centre Camille Jullian team carries out an interdisciplinary study of the aqueduct Galermi, architectural work and hydraulic engineering of about 30 km long. This aqueduct, built between the 5th century BC and the Roman Empire, first supplied drinking water to Greek and/or Roman Syracuse. In the 16th–17th centuries, partial transformations have been done and changed the function of the channel, with the installation of flour mills. In the 19th century, the new Italian state gradually expropriated immediate neighbors who exploited abusively the aqueduct. It was then devoted only to irrigate the Syracusan territory according to a system of concessions that has almost remained unchanged since the 19th century. The paper will present this program and the last results that the team obtained in the last two years, particularly about intakes of water and underground galleries, and which chronology can be proposed.

Published In

Jonas Berking (Ed.), Water Management in Ancient Civilizations, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2018