Aqueduct of Querétaro

The Aqueduct of Querétaro is one of the finest surviving examples of colonial engineering in the Americas — 74 arches in pink stone stretching 1.3 kilometres across the valley northeast of the old city, reaching a maximum height of 23 metres. It was completed in 1738 and carried water from springs in the hills to the city's fountains for over a century before being decommissioned.

The best view is from the Mirador de los Arcos at the base of the structure, where the arches recede into the distance and the pink stone glows in the afternoon light. The surrounding neighbourhood of La Cañada has good restaurants and cafes making it a natural stop before or after. At night the aqueduct is lit up and makes for a good evening stroll — the whole stretch is pedestrianised.

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A story
The aqueduct was completed in 1738, funded not by the Spanish Crown or the Church but by the Marquis Juan Antonio de Urrutia y Arana, who reportedly paid for its construction himself after falling in love with a woman in Querétaro. He built it, tradition says, to win her affection. Whether or not the story is true, the aqueduct brought clean water to the city for the first time and bears his name on a plaque at its base.