Aqueduct Convento de Cristo Tomar Portugal

Aqueduct Convento de Cristo Tomar Portugal - I took this picture on a recent trip (2024) to Portugal with the intention of painting it in the future.

“Even though the joanino convent reservoirs were sufficient to cater to the friars ´needs, the available water was not sufficient for the cultivation of the terrains of the conventual church. When Philipe II of Spain became King Philipe I of Portugal he also became the Master of the Order of Christ. With this title he ordered Filipe Terzi the construction of an aqueduct which would give the convent and lands of the Seven Hills abundant amounts of water. A grandiose work of hydraulic engineering is therefore built within the conventual landscape. It is 6 kilometres long with a total of 180 arches for the aerial passages of the water line. A particularly audacious part of this construction is within the Pegões valley region - 58 full back arches at the deepest end of the valley are set on top of 16 broken arches erected over grand masonry starlings, known as pegões. This construction is completed in 1619 with a row of great arches attached to the Southern façade of the convent with the fountain of the Main Cloister in a work accredited to Pedro Fernandes Torres. (http://www.conventocristo.gov.pt)