Monumental city aqueduct
The monumental city aqueduct, built between 1930 and 1932, is an unusual yet practical structure. Carlo Savonuzzi was the engeneer behind the architectural project. The building is obviously modern, but with an undeniable classical inspiration: it looks very similar to the temple in the background of Raffaello's painting The Marriage of the Virgin.
Although the building is 37 metres tall and mostly made of reinforced concrete, it looks elegant and harmonic. The aqueduct is surrounded by poplar trees that symbolize the Heliades, Phaeton's sisters. According to Greek mythology, Phaeton was hit by a lighting and fell into the Po river.
The structure has 12 arches, each of them are 12 metres tall and at the top there is the tank: it contains 2.500 cubic metres of water and in the Thirties it was the biggest water reservoir in Italy. In those years Arrigo Minerbi sculpted the fountain located between the two staircases. It symbolizes the Po river and its affluents.
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Piazza XXIV Maggio - 44121 Ferrara
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