Les Ferreres Aqueduct (Devil's Bridge, Pont del Diable — Tarraco Aqueduct)
Aqüeducte de les Ferreres · Pont del Diable Tarragona · Tarraco Devil's Bridge
Roman Augustan (late Republic to early Principate)·Roman Tarraconensis (Tarraco Colonia)·🇪🇸 Catalonia, Province of Tarragona, Tarragonès, Vall Molinàs / Francolí plain, 4 km N of Tarragona, Spain
About
About Les Ferreres Aqueduct (Devil's Bridge, Pont del Diable — Tarraco Aqueduct)
World's best-preserved early Imperial aqueduct bridge: 217 m long, 27 m high, two-storey 25-arch lower + 11-arch upper limestone dry-stone arcade bridging the Vall Molinàs gap 4 km north of Roman Tarraco (Tarragona). Built Augustan (re-dated 20 BCE–20 CE, earlier thought Antonine) to bring Francolí spring water to Tarraco along a 32-km conduit. 20 m narrow specus (channel locus). Medieval 'Devil built it' legend; 18th c Marchioness of Ferreres restored.
UNESCO 875 component of Tarraco ensemble (2000). Francolí water tinted Tarraco's thermal baths.
Why it mattersParadigm of Augustan dry-stone aqueduct engineering — oldest major bridge in Hispania.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Precise Augustan patron
Theories
- 01Tarraco prestige hydraulic program under Augustus
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.20 BCE – 20 CE (Augustan)
- Period
- Roman Augustan (late Republic to early Principate)
- Culture
- Roman Tarraconensis (Tarraco Colonia)
- Builders
- Roman Augustan engineers for Colonia Tarraco
- Purpose
- Metropolitan water for Augusta Tarraco (baths, fountains, suburban villas)
- Abandoned
- After Visigothic 475 CE neglect; specus robbed
- Rediscovered
- Medieval Devil's Bridge legend; 1854 A. del Arco restoration
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
-20
Augustan specus construction
2000
UNESCO 875 Tarraco ensemble
On the ground
Structures & features
41.1450° N · 1.2450° E · 56 m · 2 mapped features
Upper Tier Specus Channel (0.20 m) Top
aqueduct0.20-m specus channel on apex of 27-m arcade — Francolí water locus
41.1460° N · 1.2440° EVall Molinàs Valley Crossing
aqueduct25-arch lower tier bridging forested Vall Molinàs gap
41.1450° N · 1.2450° E
Gallery