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Founded: 2nd century ADCategory: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in France
Historical period: Roman Gaul (France)
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The Barbegal aqueduct and mills is a Roman watermill complex located on the territory of the commune of Fontvieille in southern France. The complex has been referred to as the greatest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world and the sixteen overshot wheels are considered the biggest ancient mill complex.
The mills consisted of 16 waterwheels in two parallel sets of eight descending a steep hillside. There are substantial masonry remains of the water channels and foundations of the individual mills, together with a staircase rising up the hill upon which the mills are built. The mills operated from the beginning of the 2nd century until about the end of the 3rd century. The capacity of the mills has been estimated at 4.5 tons of flour per day, enough to supply bread for as many as 10,000 of perhaps 30-40,000 inhabitants of Arelate at that time. It is thought that the wheels were overshot water wheels with the outflows driving successive wheels to the base of the hill.
Vertical water mills were well known to the Romans, being described by Vitruvius in his De architectura of 25 BC, and mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historiæ of 77 AD. There are also later references to floating water mills from Byzantium and to sawmills on the river Moselle by the poet Ausonius. The use of multiple stacked sequences of reverse overshot water-wheels was widespread in Roman mines, especially in Spain and Wales. It is possible that the mills at Barbegal may also have been used for sawing timber and stone when not grinding wheat. The Hierapolis sawmill from the 3rd century AD shows a crank-activated frame saw being used in this way, and another has been excavated at Ephesus.
Visitors to Barbegal may park where a minor road crosses the massive remains of the original aqueduct, and walk south about 250 meters along the remains of the aqueduct through the cleft in the ridge to the top of the mill complex. The site is signposted as Roman aqueduct rather than as a mill. The Arles Museum of Antiquity has an informative reconstructed model of the mill.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.
