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A monument to human ingenuity, the old town of Segovia and its aqueduct.

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The town of Segovia is in central Spain. It's known for its ancient and medieval architecture.

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There's a 16th century cathedral in the city centre. It's called the Lady because of its elegant appearance.

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This is the Alcazar, a fairytale castle.

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The aqueduct was built during the Roman Empire around the 1st century AD.

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It is 813 metres long and at its highest point rises to 28.5 metres.

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The waterway is supported by 128 arched pillars.

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Over 20,000 granite blocks were used in the construction.

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The aqueduct brought water into the town until the end of the 19th century.

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No kind of mortar was used to hold it together.

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Stones are simply laid next to each other.

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For the arches, masons first made semi-circular frames in wood and then piled stones on top.

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After all the stones were laid, the wooden frame was removed.

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Each stone is held in place by the others.

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They support each other to maintain equilibrium within the arch.

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The La Echeveria river was the source of the water supply.

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River water was irrigated by a water channel before reaching the aqueduct 18 kilometres from the source.

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It reached the intake point in town flowing through a 30 centimetre wide channel on top of the aqueduct.

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Water first ran into the cistern inside this shed.

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Here, leaves and natural litter in the water would be removed and clean water would flow into the town.

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The aqueduct was designed to supply the same amount of water throughout Segovia.

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The aqueduct's bridges were built at different heights to maintain a consistent channel gradient,

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which in turn ensured even distribution.

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This Roman aqueduct supplied water to the town for nearly 2,000 years.

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It is a fine testimony to the high standard of civil engineering techniques used by the Romans.