Acueducto de Morelia

Morelia's aqueduct is a line of 253 round stone arches running along the middle of Avenida Acueducto, east of the historic centre, for a little over 1.7 km. It brought water from springs east of the city to what was then its edge, near today's Jardín Villalongín and the Fuente de las Tarascas, where the arches are tallest, reaching 9.24 m. From there an underground network of clay pipes carried the water on to the public fountains, the convents and private houses. There were two water tanks along the line, one at the start and another about 700 m further on.

The city had an aqueduct almost from its founding. The first, recorded around 1549, was a channel of hollowed-out tree trunks, called canoas, resting on wooden posts and earth banks, and it needed constant repair; a masonry channel replaced most of it in the late 16th century. In 1589 the city was allowed a tax on wine to pay for upkeep, meant to last a year but kept until 1779. Sections were rebuilt again and again through the 17th and 18th centuries, until on 16 May 1784 a stretch of the raised arcade collapsed and 22 arches fell.

The arches seen today date from the rebuilding that followed. The city was suffering drought and famine, and in an edict of 21 October 1785 Bishop Fray Antonio de San Miguel put up the money for the work, partly to give paid work to people left without income and partly to end the water shortage. The aqueduct stopped carrying water around 1910 and was restored in 1998. Today it is one of the city's best-loved sights: the arches are floodlit at night, the Bosque Cuauhtémoc park runs along its south side, and at its western end it meets the Fuente de las Tarascas and the Calzada Fray Antonio de San Miguel, the walkway named after the same bishop.