La Ruta del Agua - El Ejido

Out and About in Almeria - No 1.

The first instalment of my Journal taking a look at the Almeria Region.   The eight Provinces of Andalusia stretch across Southern Spain from the deserts of Almeria to the Portugese Border.   Almeria is where I am.   It is very barren and the dryest Region.   However, it does have it's own charm and dramatic landscape.   More on Almeria later.

Our Municipal town is El Ejido.   It's main source of income comes from the Greenhouses which hug the mountains right down towards the Coast.   They can be seen from Space and looking inwards from the sea, they look as if the sea continues further than it actually does.   To support this industry the one commodity it requires is water.   Today we went on the Route of the Water, following the cisterns where the water was collected, The Ramble - etched out from thousands of years of flowing water from the mountains, aqueducts to carry the water and quarries where the stone was hewn.   Finally onto the Auditorio to the Collection of Archialogical Exhibits.

The Romans settled here and called it Murgi as can be seen from the Map, built the infrastructure for the water courses to irrigate the land and serve the population.   There is a Roman Mausuleum in the middle of a roundabout at the top of the Town.   Our guide had keys to all the places and we were able to go inside. (see extra).

It was a long day and although I could understand some of what the guide was saying I didn't catch it all. 

Extra photos show the cisterns, aqueducts and the exhibits.