Historical water supply to The Monastery of El Paular: a “qanat” in the Guadarrama mountain range (Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

The "qanat" is an ingenious system of collecting and conducting groundwater to a supply point. Its origin dates back to 3,000 years ago in the area known today as Armenia, and it had spread widely throughout Persia by 600 BC. The expansion of Islam spread this technique from China to the Iberian Peninsula, where it has received various local names. In Madrid, the technique was widely used for water supply from the ninth century until the mid-twentieth century, and in recent centuries received the name "Viajes de agua".

However, the geological and socio-economic environment of the Sierra de Guadarrama in Madrid is not, and has never been, appropriate for the implementation of this type of water catchment. This is why the qanat supply of the former Charterhouse of Santa María de El Paular (Rascafría), which shows a very similar typology to the "Viajes de agua" modified or constructed in Madrid between the 17th and 19th centuries, is so original. Three "capirotes" (hoods) and a "distribution ark" have been located "in situ" in the vicinity of the Monastery and another "capirote" is used as an ornamental element in the courtyard of the old Hotel El Paular.

In this paper, we present the results obtained in the field study and files on this "Viaje de agua", its context within the old Monastery supply, its water quality, and various hydrological and hydraulic considerations. Its builders must have been "plumbers" from Madrid in the seventeenth century, and it underwent several modifications during the eighteenth century.