Cornalvo Dam

Cornalvo Dam
Alonso de Mendoza · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Cornalvo Dam is a Roman gravity dam built in the 1st-2nd century AD to supply water to Augusta Emerita (modern Merida), capital of Lusitania province. Standing approximately 24 m high and 200 m long, it blocks the Albarregas River with an earth fill core faced with dressed ashlar and Roman concrete. Remarkably, the dam remains in use today, impounding a horn-shaped reservoir about 4 km long. Declared a National Monument in 1912, it forms part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Merida, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.

TypeMegalithic structures
Period1 - 500 AD
CountrySpain
Coordinates38.9885° N, 6.1911° W

More sites in Spain

Augusta Emerita · San Lázaro Roman Aqueduct · Amphitheatre of Mérida · Roman Circus of Mérida · Ruinas Romanas de Mérida · Roman Theatre, Mérida · Roman Provincial Forum, Mérida · Temple of Diana · Acueducto de los Milagros · Concordia - Remains of the Roman Temple of Augustus · Trajan Arch · Albarregas Roman bridge · Turuñuelo · Proserpina Dam · Puente Romano, Mérida · Puente Romano de la Alcantarilla · Dolmen de Lácara · Dolmen del prado de Lácara · Esparragalejo Dam · Cave of Maltravieso · Cancho Roano · Alconétar Bridge · Roman Temple of Alcántara · Alcántara Bridge

All sites in Spain

Was this page useful?

Keep exploring

Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.

3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search