An Enigma Wrapped in a Mystery: The Living, Growing Aqueduct of Alicún de las Torres, Granada
Not far from the Moorish splendors of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, and close to the troglodyte cave-dwellings of the residents of Guadix, is the spectacular, living, El Toril Aqueduct. It is located across the road from the popular rural Hotel Balneario (Spa) de Alicún de las Torres, which utilizes the same warm medicinal waters carried by the aqueduct for its healing baths, treatments, and outdoor pools.
View over the gorge of Río Alhama. (Tango7174/CC BY-SA 4.0)
This living, growing aqueduct is a unique water conduit, approximately 15 meters (49 feet) tall at its highest point, over three meters (10 feet) thick at its widest, and nearly a kilometer-and-a-half (0.85 mile) long. Its imposing walls are covered in exuberant vegetation—grasses and ferns, roots and vines—that make the aqueduct look like a veritable hanging garden.
