15 maart 2014

from the archives #8

Madeira (2008)

The Portuguese island Madeira is appreciated for many reasons, one of them is the levadas. Levadas are irrigations channels created to carry water from the northwest of the island to the drier southeast, where the agriculture is. The oldest levadas date from the 16th century, the most recent were made in the 1940s. Building them was often difficult as Madeira is very mountainous, which made it also necessary to dig tunnels.
There are more than 2170 km (1350 miles) of levadas! Today they provide a remarkable network of walking paths, like the one on the photo.

6 opmerkingen:

  1. I'm not used to seeing irrigation channels. The scene is a treat to my eyes.

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  2. This reminds me of the irrigation channels at Petra in Jordan.

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  3. Ze hadden toen al een slim watermanagement.

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  4. Ziet er erg paradijselijk uit. Mooi.

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  5. That looks like the most wonderful walking path ever...what a great idea to turn these into paths for walkers.

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  6. I've seen these in Swiss Alps, but not so long.
    There are nice, you can drink water when you are walking.
    The image is lovely.
    Have a nice weekend

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Don't be shy and leave a comment. I'd love to read what you think!