La memoria dell'acqua. Antichi sistemi di approvvigionamento e distribuzione idrica a Palermo: torri, urne e castelletti.Water memory. Old systems of water supply and conveyance in Palermo: towers, urns and castlets

Abstract

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. Man has dug wells and reservoirs in order to collect, assemble and retain water and has carried out and implemented all the works that were necessary to make water supply more useful and efficient: waterworks, fountains, drinking troughs and water systems bringing the vital element from door to door and which, over the centuries, have changed the look of the cities and of the neighbouring landscape, thus influencing their urban and territorial structure. 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, which was used until the beginning of the twentieth century. 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 areas and being typical of a square, a courtyard or a road system. A study conducted at the Department of Building Project and Construction of Palermo University 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; this commitment is still today perpetuated by all those who believe and work in order to make such crucial resource available all over the planet. The conducted analysis, backed by photographic and architectural surveys, and supported by news found out in archives, libraries and occasionally heard from the inhabitants of the visited urban areas, 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.