Aqueduto das Águas Livres

More than a monumental work, the Águas Livres Aqueduct is Lisbon’s grand answer to an old problem: the lack of water. Commissioned by King João V in 1731, the system brought into the city water collected in the Belas area and, throughout the eighteenth century, supplied reservoirs, galleries and fountains that transformed urban life. Its most famous stretch is the one crossing the Alcântara valley: 35 arches over 941 metres, with the largest pointed stone arch in the world, so solid that it survived the earthquake of 1755. During a visit, what impresses most is not ornament but the intelligence of the engineering and the feeling of walking suspended above Lisbon. Between the austerity of the stonework, the scale of the valley and the memory of water entering the capital, it becomes clear why this is one of the city’s most extraordinary monuments.