Water and Enlightened Techniques: The Azuda (Waterwheel) of Aranjuez (Spain)

This investigation deals about one of the most unique constructions in the Aranjuez hydraulic engineering program. The Azuda, a waterwheel, was built in the middle of the eighteenth century in an area close to the Renaissance canal of the Embocador. First, a spatial and chronological analysis of its construction process and its typology which combines a wheel and an aqueduct, is carried out. Next, it is contextualized in the cultural tradition of the Mediterranean norias and its functions are clarified as it covered both irrigation and recreation. Finally, it is argued how the cultural landscape of Aranjeuz was enriched with a work of great aesthetic value, with classical and Muslim roots, being reinterpreted under the spirit of the Enlightenment.