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Wheel of Alcantarilla

Alcantarilla, Huerta de Murcia, Murcia

1 Villages · 9 Monuments · 3 Activities · 3 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

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Wheel of Alcantarilla

Monument · Alcantarilla, Huerta de Murcia, Murcia

The Rueda de Alcantarilla, also called Rueda de la Huerta, stands next to the Museo Etnológico de la Huerta, in the north of the municipality, and since 1982 has formed with it and with the aqueduct that feeds it a group declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection). The first waterwheel, made of wood, dates from the 15th century and raised the water of the Acequia Mayor Alquibla to the acequia del Turbedal; in 1890 a larger wheel was built, and the present one, now made of metal, was installed in 1956 with the same measurements as the 1890 wheel: 11 metres in diameter, 1.90 wide and 8 high, with 72 buckets arranged in two rings that collect the water from the channel and pour it into a higher canal, irrigating the Murcian huerta by gravity.

Photo: Quezaltepeque (CC BY 3.0)

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