The Valens aqueduct was actually completed in 368 during the reign of this emperor, but certainly planned and begun already in the time of Constantine the Great (272 - 337) or his son Constantius II (317 – 361). The aqueduct was built as part of a new water supply system for Constantinople. Water from the Belgrad Forest beyond the city was carried over the aqueduct to the center of the city around the Great Palace near the Hippodrome. It was in use throughout the Byzantine and most of the Ottoman periods. The aqueduct with double-tiered arches, which stretched across the little valley between two of the city's seven hills (Fatih and Süleymaniye), was originally over 1,000 m long and 26.5 m high in the middle. The impressive structure, still intact, has today a length of 971 m and a maximum height of only 20 m, since the surrounding ground level has risen up to 6 m. It was used during the Ottoman period for one branch of the Halkalı water supply system and repaired during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) and later of Mustafa II (1695 - 1703). (Location: Istanbul)

Uploaded by slavica on 5/9/2007, viewed 8678 times.