Agua de Prata Aqueduct in Évora is, for its size, one of the most impressive monuments in the city. It doesn’t let us forget the ingenuity required to provide the people in Evora with water since ancient times. For that and other reasons, it is considered a Portuguese National Monument since 1910.
The construction of Agua de Prata Aqueduct was started by King João III in 1532. Under the direction of the royal architect Francisco de Arruda, 11mi (18km) of aqueduct were built starting in Divor estate, where it gets its supply of water, to the centre of Evora.
The piping and granite arches in Renaissance style were most probably laid over the old Roman aqueduct. Finished in 1537, the inauguration of Agua de Prata Aqueduct was a great ceremony held in the presence of the king and his court in Giraldo Square, where a marble fountain with lions was built, as well as a Roman triumph arch (both replaced later in the remodelling of the square. Where the lions fountain once was, we can now see the Giraldo Square fountain.