San Giuliano T. Asciano | The Medici Aqueduct

The Medici Aqueduct stretches itself  in the Valle delle Fonti , which takes its name from the many spring waters conveyed here to supply the city of Pisa. It is an elevated structure about 6 km long and composed of 934 arches that wind between Asciano and Pisa, terminating at the so-called Porto delle Gondole, a basin of water still visible today from the top of the Medieval Walls.

It was the terminus of the dense network of canals that crisscrossed the Pisan plain where covered boats (called gondolas) landed to transport goods and passengers, some of them illustrious as Montesquieu, Alfieri, Shelley, to San Giuliano Terme.

It was the Medici in the 16th century to build it on the model of the Roman aqueducts. This great work allowed the waters to flow in a single pipe and end in a collection tank (peschiera), where the debris accumulated. To get rid of it, two parallel canals were built in the nineteenth century, dividing the drainage water from the spring water.

The aqueduct and the building structures still show all their charm and are still visible along the itinerary that leads from Pisa to the village of Asciano Pisano along the panoramic Via dei Condotti, ideal for a walk or a bike ride.

The protected area of Valle delle Fonti extends for 195 hectares and is behind the village of Asciano Pisano on the south-western slopes of Monte Pisano, characterized by maritime pines that supplied the Maritime Republic with wood, and chestnut trees whose flour sustained the population during famines.

The sunniest areas are occupied by olive groves with terraces bordered by dry-stone walls.