"Composed of twelve water tanks with a capacity of 850,000 liters and 300 square meters, they are the largest Roman cisterns in Spain and the fourth in the world. They were declared an Asset of Cultural Interest on June 29, 1996.
History
The place where the Roman cisterns are located was part of the ancient Roman forum of the city of Monturque in the 1st century AD, so it was used to store rainwater . The water fell from the roofs of the houses to a large central source that filtered to the underground cisterns. A system of filters made the sediments remain at the bottom and the required water was removed with a system of pulleys . They were cleaned once a year and their main function was to supply the Roman baths.nearby, so they housed a capacity of up to 850,000 liters. The cisterns were not the only ones in the municipality, eight other cisterns have been found, smaller, but with the same system, which belonged to noble families with high purchasing power.
Discovery
The cisterns were discovered after an extension to the municipal cemetery, carried out to house the numerous victims of a cholera epidemic in 1885. However, their original function was unknown and the cisterns became another part of the cemetery, being used as an ossuary , a pantheon, a cistern and even an autopsy room . Likewise, vents were made to provide natural light from the outside.
In 1996 it became aware, after a scientific investigation, that those archaeological remains were part of a large Roman infrastructure, so it was cleaned and adapted for tourist visits, which continue today.
At the end of 2005, the Monturque City Council began a series of musealization actions and enhancement of this archaeological complex to improve its visit, inaugurating on February 27, 2006. A wooden parquet was located so that the passage of visitors does not damage the original floor, new lighting was installed between the original floor and said platform, as well as information panels and even background music. In 2010, works were carried out to prevent water leaks and in 2014 the "patio de los Ahorcados" was valued, which allowed visits to the upper part of the drainage channel.
Features
It is a hydraulic construction from Roman times , built in « opus caementicium » and covered on the inside with « opus signinum ». Composed of twelve chambers covered with a half-barrel vault, distributed in three parallel ships; each nave is made up of four rectangular chambers equipped with circular openings at the top, which are used for ventilation and guarantee good water conservation. On the outside of one of the chambers there is an extension that presents a broken trajectory and ends in a small cleaning well. These deposits or cisterns must have been destined for human consumption. The volume of water capable of being stored leads one to think of a surplus of water that would be led to the rustic villas, of which abundant vestiges remain.
The Paseíllos
In addition to the Roman cisterns, the so-called Los Paseíllos archaeological site has also been discovered in the same area. The construction remains discovered correspond to the ground floor or basement of a large building, to which access would be through a ramp. Its plant is rectangular, presenting a north-south orientation, divided into two naves by an alignment of pillars. Being partially excavated in the rock gives it a semi-subterranean structure, being closed by all its parts, except for the entrance. This particularity leads to classifying it as a cryptoportic .
The appearance of amphorae materials suggests a possible use for storage. The discovery of various architectural elements suggests the existence of a second floor, of which no remains have been preserved, and which would be large, due to the powerful foundations of the discovered structure."
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