The Arches of Xochimilco

It takes its name from a group of arches that run for approximately 300 meters and formed part of the San Felipe Aqueduct, and from a narrow cobbled lane that passes alongside them and goes to the old barrio of Xochimilco.

The San Felipe Aqueduct was built during the middle of the eighteenth century and provided water to Oaxaca City until early 1941.

The remnants of the aqueduct start in nearby San Felipe and then pass through Xochimilco, but not before crossing the Jalatlaco River at the place called “Pozas Arcas” or “La Cascada,” where the stonework exemplifies the maximum technical engineering skills of the time.

The vestiges of the aqueduct end in a corner of the atrium of the Church of Carmen Alto in a cistern that retains the terminal date of the work: 1751.

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