The aqueduct at night
Aqueduct Park is a small urban park located on the Cadona Aqueduct in the Cadona quarter of Carrington, Brunant. The park was created in 2013 on the disused aqueduct. The aqueduct is being looked into as a candidate for national monument status.
History of the aqueduct[]
The aqueduct was built around 1680-1685, as a way to bring water from the hills outside Carrington to the city, specifically the Aqueduct House, which collected the fresh water. It was placed parallel to Brand Street and then continued through the countryside.
After 1905, the city stopped using the aqueduct for transporting water, given that an expansion of the aqueduct would be required to reach new water sources, and the city had no money to spend on that. Eventually, wagons and trucks would then be able to bring the city's water supply, leaving the aqueduct permanently out of use.
The aqueduct house became used to store many of the city's historical items, and the aqueduct itself became closed off, except to a few urban explorers who would climb it, mostly at night.
Over the years, a number of ideas surfaced as to what to do with it, such as using it to store garbage, using it as an artillery post and simply demolishing it. When the Nazi Germans landed paratroopers in the Carrington area on 20 May 1941, there was no damage at all to the aqueduct. Resistance activity in the countryside in early 1944, however, led to Germans to use light field guns and resistance fighters to use grenades and bombs, which collapsed a good portion of the aqueduct.
After the war the portions of the aqueduct in the countryside were left to decay, though private (and city since the 1970s) conservation efforts were able to maintain the remaining portions.
The portion of the aqueduct within Carrington was restored in 1955-1956, though still remaining closed to the public. Discussion over its uses were again brought up in the early 2000s and one of the proposals submitted was to convert it inito a park. A number of weeds had grown on the top, and with some care, beautiful plants and flowers could be grown there.
Eventually, the city gave permission to do so in 2012 and in 2013, work began. The park opened in October 2013 and has become a success, both locally and nationwide.
The park[]
The park is not particularly long, only having a few kilometers in length. The park is entered through the Aqueduct House, which has a small lift to go up. At the other end, an iron spiral staircase goes down to ground level. As a public park, people do no have to pay to visit it. It operates from 8:00 to 20:00 each day.