The Aqueducts of Lugdunum

Abstract

Not long after the Colonia Copia Felix Munatia Lugdunum, in present day Lyon, France, was founded in 43 BCE by Lucius Munantius Plancus on the 300 m high Fourvière hill overlooking the Saone and Rhône rivers and the plains to the north and east, it became the capital of the Gallia provinces, growing to be with some 50,000 inhabitants the largest town in Gaul. In the early days, the colonia on the west valleys surrounded Fourvière hill and depended on local springs, wells, and rain cisterns for its water provision, which soon became insufficient for the growing city. A first aqueduct was constructed in 20 BCE, bringing waters from a spring some 10 km north of the town. In the decades to follow, another three aqueducts were added. All of the aqueducts were equipped with one or more pressure lines and installations of (inverted) siphons, totaling nine, to cross valleys that were thought too deep or too wide for a bridge. Today, the Métropole de Lyon counts over a million inhabitants; it is after Paris and Marseille the third largest town in France. Since 1998, Lyon has been listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, among others, because of the historic architecture in its urban settlements over 2000 years of age. This manuscript recounts the history and present remains of the four aqueducts and their nine extraordinary siphons, and is dedicated to Dr. Jean Burdy, who, with his team over many years of research of earlier literature and of investigations and discoveries of the physical remains of valley sites, produced a great number of publications saving the Lyon aqueducts from oblivion and leading to restorations in recent times.