16-17 April 2019
Museu de la Ciutat de València. Saló d’Actes
Programme
16 April
16:30 - 16:45 Registration
16:45 - 16:55 Introduction by:
Dña. María Barceló Chico (Director of Valencia City Myseum)
Dña. María Dolores Real García (Pro-vice-chancellor and head of Innovation and Transfer at the University of Valencia)
D. Luis Arciniega García (Director of the Cátedra Demetrio Ribes, University of Valencia)
17:00 - 19:25 Lectures
Preside la mesa D. Javier Martí Oltra. Director of the Museum of the History of Valencia
17:15 Dr. José Luis Jiménez Salvador. Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Valencia Chelva Museum. Juan José Ruiz López. Museo de Chelva
“El acueducto de Peña Cortada (la Serranía, Valencia): una muestra singular de la ingeniería romana en tierras valencianas”
18:00 D. Víctor M. Algarra Pardo. Archaeologist specialising in the archaeology of architecture and historical landscapes
“El acueducto de los Calicantos. Una capa del paisaje cultural del agua del Turia en el territorio de Gestalgar”
18:45 Dra. Tamara Peñalver Carrascosa. Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Valencia
“Sistemas de abastecimiento hidráulico en los espacios domésticos urbano-romanos del territorio valenciano”
19:30 Inauguration of the exhibition "Rius per l'aire. Aqüeductes de la Comunitat Valenciana" (Rivers in the air. Aqueducts of the Valencian Community)
17 April
17:00 - 18:35 Lectures
Preside la mesa el Dr. Jorge Hermosilla Pla. Pro-vice-chancellor and head of Territorial Protection and Participation, University of Valencia
17:20 Dr. Luis Arciniega García. Cátedra Demetrio Ribes, Universitat de València
“La memoria de los acueductos”
18:00 Dr. Pablo Camarasa Balaguer. Architect and doctor of History of Art
“Las arquitecturas del agua en Xàtiva y su huerta. Casos de arquerías”
18:45 Guided tour of the exhibition "Rius per l'aire. Aqüeductes de la Comunitat Valenciana" (Rivers in the air. Aqueducts of the Valencian Community)
Information and registration
Free admission and registration.
Anyone who would like to receive an attendance certificate must register.
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Introduction
The cultural dimension of civil engineering works has been widely recognised ever since the ‘Las Obras Públicas. Una nueva dimensión del Patrimonio’ [Public works. A new dimension to heritage] conference in Madrid, 1986. In fact, today, we are working towards a National Public Works Plan, which illustrates their importance, specificity and great aesthetic, symbolic, historical, usage and scientific value. All kinds of public works bring together and constantly revolutionise art and technique to society’s benefit. For this reason, they are a faithful reflection of the era in which they are carried out and the socio-political interests they serve. Given the diverse viewpoints from which it can be studied, this subject has interested art historians, archaeologists, architects, engineers and geographers. To fulfil the need for dialogue between these different disciplines, in 2013, the Cátedra Demetrio Ribes created the Workshop de Estudios Interdisciplinares de la Obra Pública [Interdisciplinary studies workshop on public works]. The third edition, titled ‘Arcos y conductos. Aportaciones a la historia de la ingeniería hidráulica’ [Arches and conduits. Contributions to the history of hydraulic engineering], is being held in collaboration with Valencia City Council via the City Museum.
The culture of water is one of the keys to understanding the history of the Valencian Community, and especially its capital, described by some as the ‘city founded on the waters’. Furthermore, hydraulic engineering works can modify and shape landscapes greatly. Ancient Roman aqueducts, Renaissance dams, canals from the Enlightenment, water supply pipes, reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations are part of our land, part of our social and political history, and have modified our landscape. If all public works configure landscapes, configure places, this is all the more evident in the case of hydraulic works. One of the most outstanding elements of these works is the aqueduct: a structure of great technological value, built through expertise of various areas of science, and a legacy that has marked and organised the land, providing well-being and other benefits to society since Antiquity and supplying water for drinking, irrigation, baths, gardens, fountains, and much more.
Conserving, preserving and promoting this heritage is a task in which significant steps have been made, but incessant research work and awareness-raising among both the public and various public sectors are required if we want to carry out the activities needed to guarantee its survival and dissemination. For this reason, the series of lectures is accompanied by publications, visits to linear water infrastructures, especially their most outstanding architectural features, and ‘Rius per l’aire. Aqüeductes de la Comunitat Valenciana’ [Rivers in the air. Aqueducts of the Valencian Community]. This exhibition examines the importance of these elements from Antiquity to 1865, at which time water supply systems required significant improvements, due to cities’ transformation and growth through a new production model.
