I castella dividicula a Palermo

Abstract

The water flowing from the tap of our houses accounts for the final step of a long and complicated route beaten by time and man; the latter has always committed himself to making the best of such resource, by testing over time different technological solutions according to the environmental, geographical and cultural conditions of the various territories. Now, a widespread distribution-water system caters for most of the Italian region; in Palermo, however, sights of the relics of an ancient system can still be catched, the castella dividicula. It was a complex network of towers, urns and water towers that assured water distribution to all the urban and rural areas of the city. Today, after having performed their precious function over the centuries, it draws a great historical and cultural interest and emerges as structural and architectural element featuring some urban. The study was inspired by the above-stated remarks and it aims at documenting a voyage throughout time in order to remember, bear witness to and preserve some of Palermo’s history and of an ancient, yet by now forgotten, system which nevertheless represents a significant step in man’s task to improve the use of an unavoidable resource, to which we are all entitled. The conducted analysis also allowed to study the technological evolution of these structures both as for the employment of materials, the building techniques and the formal expression, by highlighting the operating methods and the interaction with the past and present urban and territorial context.