The Most CREATIVE IRRIGATION System in the World - Levadas of Madeira

The Levadas are a system of channels or aqueducts of many kilometres in length, mostly bordering mountains but also going through them, with several stretches over rugged rocks, to bring water from different sources to its intermediate or final uses.

Today, the ‘Levadas da Madeira’ constitute an exceptional multi-functional enterprise, transporting water for human consumption, agricultural purposes and the production of electrical energy. They are also paths for discovery and contact with nature and the agricultural landscape, becoming an “ex libris” of the region.

According to the chronicles of the time, the first levadas were rudimentary waterways, short and dug out in the volcanic tufts. When the rock was so hard that the levada frame could not be dug, segments built out of wood from endemic species such as Madeira laurel or Canary laurel would be used in the shape of a gutter.

With the ongoing expansion of farming operations, first with the cultivation of sugar cane, then later with winegrowing, and nowadays with the cultivation of bananas, the levadas network kept growing all over the island and its construction demanded more advanced techniques.

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