The Property “Levadas of Madeira Island are an hydraulic engineering work known internationally as ‘Levadas da Madeira’. The Property and its limits were defined according to the design and the permanent characteristics of this water transportation system of about 800 km of public and private waterways or aqueducts.
The Levadas (from the Portuguese verb “levar” – to carry) 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.
Courtesy of martinha from postcrossing
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