West of Fèz, 1943

West of Fèz, Morocco in 1943.

I’ve tried to find precisely where this aqueduct is, but have come up empty handed.  If you look deep into the photo, you can see this aqueduct stretching for miles off in the distance, and given the history of Romans in North Africa, this had to have been built from around 40BC to 40AD, meaning these structures stood for about two thousand years.  This I find amazing.  When I was a kid, I absolutely *consumed* books by David Macaulay.  He wrote and illustrated a book called “City” that was the story of Roman planning and construction, starting with empty countryside, and progressing to roads, buildings, and infrastructure.  These aqueducts were part of that infrastructure that brought water from miles away to cities pre-planned and placed for their strategic value… two thousand years ago!

Unfortunately, I suspect, that these aqueducts no longer exist, but would love to be proven wrong if anyone can find that they do in fact, still stand.