Aqueduc de Louveciennes

L'Aqueduc de Marly painted by Alfred Sisley in 1874. View of the tour du Levant from the hillside above the Seine river.

L'aqueduc de Louveciennes (Louveciennes Aqueduct), sometimes called aqueduc de Marly (Marly Aqueduct) is an aqueduct built in the 17th century under the reign of Louis XIV, located in Louveciennes (now in the French département of the Yvelines, in the west suburb of Paris). Now out of service, the aqueduct is listed as Monument historique since 1953.[1] It was a part of the hydraulic network in charge of provide waters for the château de Marly and the Gardens of Versailles from the Seine river with a former huge pump called "Machine de Marly".

The aqueduct consists of 36 arcs.[2] Its length is 643 m for a width varying from 2 to 4,4 m and a height from 10 to 20 meters.[3]

It was built by Jules Hardouin-Mansard then Robert de Cotte[4] from 1681 to 1685.[4] A monumental machine, called machine de Marly, situated on the Seine river at Bougival, pumped the water of the river with the help of 14 paddle wheels. By pipes put on two paved banisters, the water was pumped up the 126 metres of hill of Louveciennes made uneven. The water was poured in the reservoir of the summit of the tour du Levant ("East tower") in the north-eastern end of the aqueduct.[2] With gravity by a one metre wide and two metres deep canal, papered inside with lead,[2] the water passed by toward the tour du Jongleur ("tower of the Juggler"), the southern end.[2] From there, a siphon settled the supply of a reservoir called réservoir des Deux Portes and the nearby tank of Marly and Louveciennes .

L'aqueduc was put out of service in 1866 and replaced by underground pipes.[2]

During the Siege of Paris (1870-1871), the tour du Levant was used as a lookout for the future German emperor William I and the chancellor Bismarck.[2] This tower was renewed between 1998 and 2000.[2]

Gallery

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Base Mérimée PA00087477
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 From the Information board on the Aqueduct site.
  3. ↑ cfm? Id=s0001987 The aqueduct of Louveciennes on Structurae
  4. 1 2 Service régional de l'inventaire of Ile-de-France, general registry of the cultural heritage, French ministry of Culture, Base Mérimée IA00050205, in 1986

Sources

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Coordinates: 48°51′47″N 2°06′35″E / 48.86300°N 2.10962°E / 48.86300; 2.10962

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