©© Fondation du patrimoine_MyPhotoAgency_Alexis Marizy
©© Fondation du patrimoine_MyPhotoAgency_Alexis Marizy
The remains of the largest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world, the Barbegal mill (2nd century) would have produced flour for the city of Arelate (Arles).
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The remains of this imposing testimony to ancient engineering were identified and excavated by Fernand Benoît in the immediate post-war period. Until then, they had been interpreted as either a retention pond, part of the hydraulic network taking water from the Alpilles to Arles, or as a fulling mill.
Two sets of eight flour mills were placed on either side of a covered central staircase along which the water from a diversion of the Caperon aqueduct ran in two parallel channels. A second...
Two sets of eight flour mills were placed on either side of a covered central staircase along which the water from a diversion of the Caperon aqueduct ran in two parallel channels. A second...
