Síquies, qanats and water mills — Vernacular architecture in Mallorca

What is

The water network inherited from the Islamic era. The qanat (or mine fountain) captures water from the aquifer with a gently sloping underground gallery. The syquia leads her to the open air. Along the route, molins d'aigua grind grain with the current, and safareigs and cisterns guard it.

##Com works

Pure gravity. The qanat gallery has less slope than the terrain: the water comes to light without pumping. Vertical wells are used for excavation and ventilation.
Distributing is designing. The syquia has gates and time shifts: each garden receives water at a set time. In Banyalbufar, the organization of the distribution is called ma'jil (Pirenne, 1977; see marjades ).
Molí d'aigua: it is installed where the water falls; The fall moves the tooth. On an island without permanent rivers, torrents and streams are used.
Complete network (Consorci): petites preses, canalitzacions, siquies, safareigs and aljubs, modified and expanded since the 19th century. XIII, in use until well into the s. XX and sometimes today.

Elements and vocabulary

qanat, font de mina, mina, gallery, ullal (water source; check local use)
síquia, resclosa, divider, torn (irrigation shift), ma'jil
safareig, aljub, molí d'aigua, cup (mill deposit; to verify), rodet
Font de la Vila = 'Ayn al-Amir, "fountain of the emir"

History

Islamic rule since 902. The engineers who arrived with Isam al-Khawlani probably built the well and irrigation ditches of the Font de la Vila at the beginning of the 19th century. X (MDB, 2021).
The network supplied the Madina Mayurqa: mosques and baths (Banys Àrabs, 10th century). It entered the walled city through the Porta Pintada and continued through Sant Miquel towards Canamunt. The remainder formed the Prat de la Font de la Vila.
Jaume I (1229) found the network working and maintained it.
The Muslims (10th–13th centuries) already used water mills in the torrents for grinding and irrigation (Mayol, 2023).
UNESCO (2011) recognizes in the Serra the combination of Arab water management with Christian territorial control (criterion II) and a system of qanats, canals, rases and dipòsits (criterion IV).

On veure'n

Font de la Vila (Palma): spring next to the Valldemossa road, near the UIB Faculty of Tourism (access to be verified).
Qanat i síquia de la Font de la Vila de Artà (Pont d'en Vell; s'Hort des Bril): Artà heritage file.
Mancor de la Vila: Islamic qanat (Consorci).
Síquia d'en Baster (water again after 60 years; Mallorcadiario).
Son Reus de Randa (Algaida): canal of about 300 m that supplied Llucmajor until the 17th century. XX (MDB).

Stat

Font de la Vila (Palma): BIC file initiated in 2004 (monument category; 5 m strip plus 5 m of protection on each side). Final statement to verify.
In 2021, according to Emaya, the Font de la Vila provided 69% of Palma's daily water (MDB). Surprising figure: check with Emaya.
Molins d'aigua: not cataloged; Aina Serrano (Consell) estimates a hundred on the island (Última Hora, 2020).
Risk: urbanization of l'Horta, overexploitation of the aquifer, forgetfulness of communal distribution.

Why is it design

Design of infrastructure and rules: the gallery is as important as the irrigation turn. Lesson: water as a common good managed with time, pending and agreement. It is proximity design .

Avui architecture

Dani Freixes, Center Serra de Tramuntana in Raixa : water management is one of the axes of the story.
No other reinterpretations identified. Open countryside: water landscape in Palma (Horta, Prat).

For the project

Atlas: drawn route Font de la Vila Porta Pintada Banys Àrabs, with the Prat.
Guided route through the syquia with historians from the UIB.
Open question: inventory of molins d'aigua (does not exist; collaboration with the Consell).

Frequently asked questions

What is Síquies, qanats and water mills?

The water network inherited from the Islamic era. The qanat (or mine fountain) captures water from the aquifer with a gently sloping underground gallery. The…

Sources

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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