December 21, 2008
EL ALGIBE DEL REY. THE LARGEST INNER WATER RESERVOIR DATING BACK FROM THE MUSLIM TIMES .
Water is the basic compound for the life of all the alive beings. Without it , there would not be life.
Water cycle
The water is the only element that can be liquid, solid and gaseous. With heat water turns into steam giving form to clouds. Clouds become condensed in the shape of rain and it falls to the land. Also with heat ice is melted.
Drinking water
The drinking water is water that we can consume without any type of danger for our health. This water is short supply, above all in poor countries.
Uses of the water
The water is a limited resource in nature and it offers many uses as agriculture, decoration,…
The water in our planet.
The water is a component of our nature and it has been present in the Earth for thousands of years. It takes up ¾ parts of the planet. The 98% of the water is salty and it is in the sea, but the sweet water consists of the water of glaciers, subterranean waters and the water of rivers and lakes.
THE NATURAL RESERVOIR OF SIERRA NEVADA
Granada has a great natural reservoir called Sierra Nevada. It is the most powerful in the “Sistema Penibético”.
Granada possess multitude of water springs of Sierra Nevada.
Granada supplies with the water of the Genil river. This water is taken from the Canales’ reservoir.
Subterranean waters of the aquifer of La Vega of Granada are another source of supply
THE HISTORIC PATRIMONY
Romans made aqueducts (for example, the aqueduct that is in the mosque, in the Mirador de la Sierra), bridges (like the Puente Romano on the Genil river) and mechanisms (like the Arquímedes’s screw, the crankshaft and hydraulic rollers).
Arabs added their wisdom from East and they introduced a lot of improvements.
Uses of the water.
It had three uses:
-Sacred use: Cleanliness and ablutions.
-Social use: Urban and domestic supply and public and private toilets.
-Agricultural use: Conductions of water for irrigation and system of irrigation.
Supply of water – Albayzin
The water arrived at Albayzin from two points.
On the one hand, the water arrived from Fuente Grande (Alfacar) through the Acequia of Aynadamar. It covers Viznar, El Fargue, Pagos de Aynadamar, Manflor, Albayzín and Alcazaba. A branch arrives to Sacromonte.
On the other hand, the water arrived at Darro river, where the Acequia of San Juan starts. The water goes for right bank of the river, enters for behind of the Palace of the Córdova and flows San Juan of the Reyes street.
The water arrived at the public cisterns and later, the water arrived at private cisterns and pitchers.
The most important palaces had a private cistern.
The most popular system of storage of water was the great pitcher of ceramics.
The albaizín was declared as the World Patrimony of UNESCO in 1994.
EL ALJIBE DEL REY
Its name is Old Aljibe and Big Aljibe of Alcazaba. This “Aljibe” or well is in the “Plaza del Cristo de las Azucenas”, within the old “Alcazaba”.
At present its vaults stay inside the “Carmen del Aljibe del Rey”. This well or inner reservoir has got four parallel naves covered with vaults of half a cannon. It has got a simple front page with a half-point arch. Its length is 10,63 m.
It’s the largest Moslem reservoirs in Granada because it has got 300 m3 of inner capacity.
It was the only one that the water carriers could take water, thanks to its large size.
It was restored in 1985 with the elimination of the remains of lime ,during the restoration was found a brick of 1824, the year when the facade of “Aljibe” was built.
Nowadays, this building is owned by the municipal headquarters of the foundation Albaicín and now headquanters of the foundation Emasagra.
