The Azuda and La Montaña Aqueduct: 18th-Century Hydraulic Wheel near Aranjuez

Por lugaresparavisitar.es

This hydraulic marvel, just 4 km from Aranjuez, invites you on a silent journey where water and history converse. Among its brick walls and arching aqueduct, you’ll discover how, before engines, the current itself lifted life. Then rest on a bench by the canal at sunset: the sky erupts in amber and crimson.

Origins of Hydraulic Wheels

Imagine Syrian valleys circa 400 B.C., where engineers fashioned wooden wheels to draw water from rivers. The technology spread through Greece and Rome to the Iberian Peninsula—proof that water power has driven civilizations for millennia.

Name and Function

“Noria” derives from Arabic nʿūrā, “the groaning one,” for the wheel’s plaintive creak. “Azuda” comes from al-sudd, “the dam,” which diverted water for irrigation. Here, at La Montaña, a grand wheel elevated water to upper fields, giving the site its evocative name: La Azuda de La Montaña.

Construction History

18th Century: The original 12 m wooden wheel with 12 spokes and buckets was installed on the Embocador canal.
Aqueduct & Reservoir: An 87 m brick aqueduct carried water to an elevated basin for distribution to acequias.
Iron Upgrade: In 1844, the wooden wheel was replaced by a cast-iron model that operated until 1927.

How It Worked

The canal’s flow turned the wheel; its buckets filled up to 11 m high and tipped water into the upper reservoir. From there, gravity fed orchards and nurseries in “La Montaña.”

End of Service

Electric pumps rendered the system obsolete in 1927, ending nearly two centuries of silent irrigation.

Restoration

Between 2011 and 2013, Aranjuez’s City Council and the Hydrographic Confederation invested €2.3 M to rebuild walls, restore the aqueduct, and reinstall the iron wheel—preserving a living relic of preindustrial engineering.

Visiting Info

Access: 4 km from Aranjuez on the La Montaña road; marked parking.
Open Area: exterior freely accessible at any time.
Guided Tours: by request at the Tourist Office, including a working demonstration.
Tips: wear comfortable shoes, bring water and a camera; easy terrain.

Nearby Sights

Parque del Carmen: historic royal leisure grounds with gardens and ponds, minutes away.
Imperial Canal: 16 km riverside trail of landscaped banks.
Sunsets: from the bench by the canal, watch the arches glow orange and crimson at dusk.

Summary

La Azuda de La Montaña is more than a relic—it’s living memory in motion. Its wheel, witness to centuries of gravity-powered irrigation, murmurs to visitors. Walking its brick galleries and admiring the restored aqueduct, you grasp how human ingenuity once harnessed flow to sustain life long before industry—and how that legacy still flows in every drop.