Abstract
Historically, water has played an essential role in choosing the location and settlement of a habitat and, consequently, in the configuration of the landscape, building, and urban context. The quality of the inhabitants' hygiene and health depends on water and sewage treatment. Water supply and sanitation are crucial to achieving end-user quality and enjoyment of the home and the city. This case study focuses on the city of Madrid, intrinsically related to water from its origin and name. Therefore, the “mayra” abounds in Madrid and is the “mother of water.” The latter refers to Madrid's location surrounding a large fountain that produced a stream that flowed into the Manzanares River. It recovers photographs of the landscape found in unpublished historical and military archives with the intention of showing certain excavations that affected the El Pardo Woodlands, such as Janini's artesian wells and other missing projects in the Manzanares River Basin.
TopBackground
Magerit means “land rich in water.” This is how the Arabs called this area on the central plain of the Iberian Peninsula, close to Sierra de Guadarrama, where King Phillip II of Spain later established the royal court. Later on, it grew into the large city we know today.
The first historical record of Madrid dates back to the year 865 when Emir Muhammad I commissioned the construction of a fortress in the village of Mayrit on the banks of the Manzanares River. Mayrit means “plenty of waterways.” For eleven centuries, the original Arabic “qanat” underwent successive extensions to increase its capacity as the population grew (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Hamman Al Ándalus. Atocha Street in Madrid and Hamman Al Ándalus location at Texeira Plan location. Source: Archivo Histórico de la Villa. Madrid
Various studies show the subsoil of Madrid as “a great basin of 3,700 square kilometers of groundwater.” In turn, hydrogeologists explain that the alternation of absorbent hills and permeable troughs allow for upwelling in wetlands and ponds. The viajes del agua or “water trips” in historic Madrid follow the “qanat” and were built between the 8th and 9th centuries during the Arab domination of the citadel and the primitive Mayrit (or Majerit) (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Manzanares River basin. Source: urban-e.aq.upm.es
Key Terms in this Chapter
Storm Tanks: Huge underground tanks designed to store the first rush of rainwater, which is also the most polluting, even more than sewage, because it carries away all the dirt accumulated on streets and pavements. Once purified, the water can be discharged back into the rivers without threatening the ecology of the water flow.
Urban Landscape: Everything you can see when you look across an area of land, including buildings, bridges, and structures.
Water Trips: The water trips or water travels in Madrid are part of the whole historical underground network of channels or “qanat” created to ensure water supply in Madrid from the Muslim period.
Urbanism: The study of how inhabitants use urban areas, such as towns and cities, and how they interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines, such as urban planning, which is a profession that focuses on the physical design and management of urban structures and urban sociology or the academic field of the study of urban life and culture.
Tellurism: Refers to the earth and how it behaves above and below the surface.
Smart City: An urban area that uses different types of electronic Internet of things (IoT) such as sensors to collect data and use of insights gained from that data to efficiently manage assets, resources, and services efficiently.
Architecture: Knowledge of art, science, technology, and humanity. A general term used to describe buildings and other physical structures. The design activity performed by an architect.