Aqueduct of Morelia

Introduction

The Aqueduct of Morelia is the most photographed civic structure in a city built of pink stone: 253 semicircular arches run along the Calzada Fray Antonio de San Miguel for more than 1,700 metres, reaching 9.24 metres at their highest, all in the local pink volcanic stone known as cantera rosa. Bishop Fray Antonio de San Miguel had it built between 1785 and 1789 after years of drought, both to bring drinking water into what was then Valladolid and to provide work for indigenous residents; it remained the city's main water supply until 1910. It carries no water now, but the arches shade one of the pleasantest walks in town, from the Fuente de las Tarascas at the western end to the Santuario de Guadalupe in the east, with trees, vendors and street performers, busiest on weekend evenings and quietest on weekday mornings. The tallest arches stand near Jardin Villalongin, while the Santuario end gives a view back towards the historic centre. It is free and open around the clock, illuminated after dark as Morelia's signature night image, a twenty-minute walk east from the cathedral along Avenida Madero, close to Alfredo Zalce's murals in the Palacio de Gobierno and the Clavijero Cultural Centre.

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🛈 Practical Info