Having glimpsed the arches of
Lisbon’s famous aqueduct on a train to Sintra, my curiosity was piqued and a
few days later we set out to find The Mae d’Agua das Amoreiras Reservoir. Stupidly, we were looking for an open reservoir,
but the reality was quite different. The Mae d’Agua (Mother of The Water) is inside
a building.
Completed in 1834, it’s fair
to say its glory days are over, but it must have once been an imposing structure. Inside, huge columns support the ceiling and
daylight spills through the arch-shaped windows illuminating the chamber and
throwing reflections across the dark cyan coloured water. The building, designed by Hungarian architect
Carlos Mardel in 1746, was built to receive and distribute water transported by
the Aquas Livres Aqueduct. It has a capacity
to hold 5,500 m³ and was a lifeline for the
inhabitants of Lisbon, filling the fountains in the plazas, convents and
palaces. Today the modern city has grown
up around it, the city’s inhabitants get their water elsewhere and the arches
of the aqueduct are sprayed with graffiti.
But despite this, the monument retains its grandeur and it deserves to
be celebrated. We were the only
visitors.
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| The view from the roof terrace - where is everybody?! |
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| The aqueduct on its way to the Alcantara Valley and beyond |
The Mae d'Agua das Amoreiras Reservoir is open Tuesday to Saturday 10.00 - 12.30 - 13.30 - 17.30. The nearest metro station is Rato.
