Proserpina Dam

The Proserpina Dam is a Roman gravity dam built to supply water to the Roman colonia of Emerita Augusta –present-day Mérida, Spain–, capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. It was built in the 1st–2nd century AD as part of the infrastructure which supplied water to the city through the aqueduct of the Miracles. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the aqueduct fell into decay, but the earth dam with retaining wall is still in use.

Proserpina Dam
Location	Mérida (Badajoz), Spain
Coordinates	38.969544°N 6.366433°W / 38.969544; -6.366433
Opening date	1st–2nd century
Dam and spillways
Impounds	Las Pardillas (Guadiana basin)
Height	12 m (39 ft)
Length	427.8 m (1,404 ft)
Width (base)	5.9 m (19 ft)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Proserpina Dam
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, iv
Designated	1993 (17th session)
Part of	Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida
Reference no.	664-014
Region	Europe and North America
Spanish Cultural Heritage
Official name	Pantano de Proserpina
Type	Non-movable
Criteria	Monument
Designated	13 December 1912
Reference no.	RI-51-0000114

Proserpina Dam, plan and cross-section

Nowadays the dam and the remains of the aqueduct are part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, which is one of the largest and most extensive archaeological sites in Spain and that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993.

See also

• List of Roman dams and reservoirs
• Roman architecture
• Roman engineering
• List of Bien de Interés Cultural in the Province of Badajoz

References

• Arenillas Parra, Miguel; Castillo, Juan C. (2003), "Dams from the Roman Era in Spain. Analysis of Design Forms (with Appendix)", 1st International Congress on Construction History [20th–24th January], Madrid

Further reading

• Aranda Gutiérrez, Fernando (2006), Las presas de abastecimiento en el marco de la ingeniería hidráulica romana. Los casos de Proserpina y Cornalbo (PDF)
• Arenillas Parra, Miguel; Díaz-Guerra Jaén, Carmen; Cortés Gimeno, Rafael (2002), La presa romana de Proserpina, archived from the original on 19 August 2003, retrieved 24 October 2009
• Hodge, A. Trevor (1992), Roman Aqueducts & Water Supply, London: Duckworth, pp. 87–89, ISBN 0-7156-2194-7
• Schnitter, Niklaus (1978), "Römische Talsperren", Antike Welt, 8 (2): 25–32 (28f.)
• Smith, Norman (1971), A History of Dams, London: Peter Davies, pp. 44–47, ISBN 0-432-15090-0

External links

• Media related to Proserpina Dam at Wikimedia Commons