Aqueduct of Barbegal
We came across this almost by accident. Elaine had seen a reference on the Road Atlas for an aqueduct. When we found it (not far from St Remy de Provence on the edge of the Alpilles) it was indeed a Roman aqueduct. Luckily there was an English couple looking at it and they had a book about Roman sites in Provence. The aqueduct supplied a mill complex built into the side of the hill. The mill complex comprised several mills in a vertical line all using the water in turn.
The aqueduct was of fairly normal construction, except there were 2 aqueducts side by side, as you can see in the picture on the right. The better preserved aqueduct was built in the 4th century AD specifically to feed the mills.
At the output end of the aqueduct one channel went through a rock face as you can see on the left. (this is the later aqueduct). At the far side of the rock face was a drop, an escarpment, down into a wide flat valley. The water was used to power a series of water wheels in mills built up the escarpment. This area was a high production centre of cereals and the water powered mills ground the flour on an industrial scale. The ruins of the mills can be seen littering the side of the escarpment.
The other channel (the 1st century AD) turned sharp right at the rock face and the channel continued along the front of the rock face. Now it disappears into olive trees or scrub oak and may have powered another series of mills, or it may have provided drinking water for a community of mill operatives. Originally it was part of a system to supply Arles.
The aqueducts are about 10-11 km long and draw water from the Alpilles.