Roman aqueduct of Can Cua

Roman aqueduct of Can Cua

These are the remains of a Roman aqueduct that carried water over the slope of Pineda Creek from the area of Can Bufí to the lacus in the Roman villa of Can Roig. Nowadays only two sections of this important work of civil engineering are visible, the first one in Font del Ferro and the second –and longest- in Can Cua, with four complete arches and the remains of a fifth. Another section rose in the form of an aqueduct in the Can Palau area, but that section it is no longer there.

The Can Cua section has a total length of 2.3 meters, with four semi-circular arches. Old photographs show that the land level was lower in relation to the aqueduct, making it look taller than what is visible today; the farming of the surrounding land has altered our perception of it.

In Catalonia there is only one other aqueduct in a rural setting similar to Pineda’s, the one found in Sant Jaume dels Domenys (in the Baix Penedès region).

The aqueduct supplied the Roman villa of Can Roig –and the surrounding lands- with water. The Roman villa was built in that area due to its proximity to water (the river) and access to a route as important as the Via Augusta.

The aqueduct was studied from 1932 onwards by archaeologist Francesc Prat i Puig; its calculated length was 3.5 kilometres and it arched over a few waterways. In 2014 it was declared a National Heritage Site.