The Medieval Aqueduct of Perugia: From Abandonment to Reuse as a Pedestrian Path

The paper analyses the case study of the medieval aqueduct of Perugia and its reuse as a pedestrian path. The study concerns the terminal section of the ancient aqueduct that is identified with the arches that rise in the historic centre of the city in the area known as the ‘Conca’. The remains of the aqueduct, which have survived the passage of time and are preserved in their new urban use, testify to the bond of interdependence between the water infrastructure and the city of Perugia, which has never failed over the course of seven centuries. The aqueduct, about 4 km long, dates back to the mid-thirteenth century and was built to carry water from Monte Pacciano to the Fontana Maggiore, in the heart of the historic centre of Perugia. The extraordinarily daring hydraulic work had a troubled life due to the frequent repairs that the municipality had to sustain and the effort it put into asking for opinions and solutions from various experts of the time. Due to ongoing functional and maintenance problems, the aqueduct was decommissioned in 1835 and replaced by a new one coming from Bagnara di Nocera Umbra and directed to the Monteripido reservoir. Today, the arches of the Conca are a pedestrian hanging street, Via dell’Acquedotto, which connects the historic centre with the Conca area and with Borgo Sant’Angelo, an appendix of the medieval expansion of the city towards the north.