Managing Water in Toledo

17-10-1561,Toledo (Spain)

1 page, coloured drawing on paper; 59 × 44 cm

Spanish State Archives
General Archive of Simancas, ES.47161.AGS/5.1/MPD,27,3

Water management has a long tradition in Iberia. With long, hot, dry summers, and certain areas where water is scarce, an efficient and rational use of water has always been a serious issue for the various peoples that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula.

The document shows the plan for a machine to raise fresh water from the river Tagus to the Alcazar de Toledo. The plan was designed by Giovanni Turriano (c. 1505-1585) known in Spain as Juanelo Turriano, an engineer and technical advisor to King Charles I.

Born in Cremona, Italy, Turriano moved to Spain in 1529 to serve king Charles I. A brilliant and somewhat eccentric personality, he soon started many other projects and inventions, and participated in different technical enterprises.

Turriano started living in the city of Toledo in 1534.

The old constructions that used to provide water to the city - an aqueduct built by the Romans and a giant water wheel built during the time of Islamic domination - had been destroyed, and water was brought from the nearby river Tagus by horses and donkeys, enduring a climb of some 100 metres. The plan presented here is from 1561, and the first engine he built was a success; it was working at full capacity by 1568. The two mechanisms, known as Artificio de Juanelo, were considered engineering wonders at the time and efficiently solved most of Toledo water problems. The machines were in operation until 1639.

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