The Muro Dam was a Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 in Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. Located near the eastern municipality of Campo Maior

Campo Maior

Campo Maior , is a municipality in the Portalegre District, Alentejo Region, Portugal.The municipality has an area of 247,26 km² and a population of 8359 . It is divided into 3 parishes . It is bordered by Spain on the North and East, by Elvas Municipality on the Southeast, and by Arronches...

, it is the largest surviving ancient

Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...

 dam in the country south of the Tagus river.

The 174 m long structure features three slight bends in its course. Its downstream side is supported by a series of thirteen small buttress

Buttress

A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...

es at intervals of 3–4 m. The central section, where the dam is highest and strongest, is further strengthened on its air-side by three vertical arch

Arch

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...

es which go from buttress to buttress.

External links

• Ministério da Cultura: Barragem Romana do Muro
• Barrages romains du Portugal: Barrage de Muro (no. 16)