Aqua Virgo

Roman Aqueducts are tall bridges built across the Roman empire. These structures were built to carry water to the inner cities of the empire that did not have immediate access to water. These structures are magical works of art and are still standing to this very day.

Roman Aqueducts still in use today – Aqua Virgo

Romans built a vast number of these aqueducts and there are a total of 11 of these massive structures. You can definitely find a list of all the roman aqueducts. But what is not very prominent is a list of Roman aqueducts still in use today.

So here is the list.

List of Roman aqueducts still in use today

1. Aqua Virgo built by Marcus Agrippa

Aqua Virgo was built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 19 BC. He began work on this aqueduct after he complete the construction of Aqua Julia in 33 BC.

This massive structure is approximately 21 km long and the source is near the north of Via Collatina, a place near Rome.

Then it entered Rome via the North as it had to circumvent the other densely populated areas in the region and the construction of this would have caused a lot of problems in the daily lives of the inhabitants.

Except for 1 km of its length, everything was built under the ground.

In the 17th century, the Aqua Virgo was renamed Acqua Vergine which is nothing but the Italian way of saying, Aqua Virgo.

Here is a complete story of how Marcus Agrippa built the Aqua Virgo. This article talks about the problems he faced along the way as well.

Now let’s move on to the second aqueduct still functioning today.

Oh wait, there is no other one. In the words of Micheal Saylor,

There is no second best

Michael Saylor

Aqua Virgo and Trevi Fountain

Aqua Virgo is the only functioning aqueduct still left in Rome and it still supplies water to the world-famous Trevi Fountain in Rome.

This Trevi fountain is seen in various movies and the most famous one being in a movie called La Dolce Vita starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, and Anouk Aimée.

Trevi Fountain in La Dolce Vita
Trevi Fountain scene in La Dolce Vita. Source: Pinterest

I now leave you with the actual video of Michael Saylor saying ‘there is no second best’ but the actual conversation is about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that could be second best to bitcoin.

Adithya V

I have an innate interest in art and I am starting this blog to document some of the amazing things I learned. I would segregate my content in chronological order which would make sense for any beginner to read and make sense of it all.

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4 Comments

  1. “Aqua Virgo was built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 19 century BC” — I think you meant 19 BC 😉

    1. I have made the change. Thanks for pointing it out.

  2. You have illustrated your post with a photo of the Pont du Gard in Nimes, France. It is mislabeled.

    1. I apologize for that mistake. It has been updated now. Thank you for pointing it out.

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