Genoa, on the trail of the historic aqueduct under the feet of Castelletto
Walk together with the Underground Studies Center to discover the collected found, obtained intact today
Genoa – Under the sidewalks of Circonvallazione a Monte the producer of the Historical Aqueduct is hidden, still intact. If everyone knows the walks on Valbisagno, They will be able to recognize the traces of the hydraulic detector in the city.
The easiest to find are along a walk of a kilometer and a half that starts from Piazza Manin to reach Spianata Castelletto and which The XIX Century he documented together with the technicians of the Underground Studies Center, an association that is part of the Federation of Ancient Aqueduct associations and knows all its secrets.
Already in Piazza San Bartolomeo degli Armeni you can see some mighty pink granite slabs, 335 centimeters long by 140 wide, 20 centimeters thick and weighing 20 tons: they cover the hydraulic route, as can also be guessed from the numerous toponyms in the area. Thirty meters later it begins Passo dell’Acquidotto, which draws in its layout the section of the aqueduct and which still has intact in the pavement of the ancient ones luserna slabs of the roof. Stones that also cover the sidewalk of Corso Armellini: here the slabs are as many as 253 and follow, with their fan-like laying, also the curvilinear course of the sidewalk.
The arches of the aqueduct visible from the Palestro staircase
They have stood the test of time too the arches that supported the infrastructure and which are still clearly visible from Palestro stairway and under Corso Magenta. Right here, where the “Allied Combatants” gardens now stand, once stood the locality called Spparto because at this height the main branch of the aqueduct – which was born in Valbisagno in the locality of Presa (toponym that indicates precisely the outlet of the source to bring the water in the city) – it forked into the western branch that reached Spianata Castelletto and into the eastern branch, also known as the forges, which descended towards Porta Soprana.
The terminus of the Sant’Anna funicular is in via Bertani
One of the most evocative points of the walk is the arrival of the upper terminus of the Sant’Anna funicular, at the top of via Bertani: inaugurated in 1891 it was supplied with water from the aqueduct, which was conveyed to a tank still visible but completely hidden by the vegetation.
The basin that fed the Sant’Anna funicular with water from the aqueduct
The walk continues towards Spianata Castelletto, meeting on the sidewalks of Corso Magenta i manhole covers which constituted access to the hydraulic tunnel to allow technicians to carry out maintenance and remove limescale that could slow the flow of water.
The canal bridge uphill San Gerolamo
A little further on, uphill San Gerolamo, the beautiful canal bridge appears: the hydraulic conduit runs inside it while in the supporting wall that precedes it, both the arches of the aqueduct and the metal doors to which the derivations for the various brunzin, taps fitted with valves that provide homes, private cisterns and public fountains fitted with taps.
Here ends the first part of the path that from Spianata ends to be flat to descend towards the historic center and finish in the Porto Antico area where the famous Molo Cannons stood. But this is another walk.
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