The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Ana Leiva, participated today, together with the delegate for the Environment of the City of Mérida, Marisa Tena, and the scientific director of the Consortium of the Historical, Artistic and Archaeological Monumental City of Mérida, Miguel Blanco, at an event in which the progress of the joint project “Roman Water Paths” was presented.

The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Ana Leiva, participated today, together with the delegate for the Environment of the City of Mérida, Marisa Tena, and the scientific director of the Consortium of the Historical, Artistic and Archaeological Monumental City of Mérida, Miguel Blanco, at an event in which the progress of the joint project “Roman Water Paths” was presented.

The initiative, in which the Association for the Defense of Nature of Extremadura (Adenex) also participates, has the mission of recovering, cleaning up and putting into service the public roads, ravines and cattle trails around Mérida, to allow citizens access to emblematic hydraulic works of the times of the Roman Empire.

From next year, visitors will be able to take a tour of archaeological wonders in the province of Badajoz, in a thousand-year-old dialogue with the Extremaduran landscape. The route especially rescues the environmental aspect of the culture of water in Roman times.

At this time, routes and maps are being drawn up, geo-referencing the constructions (aqueducts, canals, dams, settling tanks, among others) that will allow guides and posters to be published. At the historical points of the route, emblematic trees of the Empire will be planted and authentic Roman granite ashlars will be installed, which were found in the ruins of the area and had until now been stored waiting for a good fate.