The arch of the Roman aqueduct that stands in Plaça Nova, next to the old Decuman gate of Barcino, is a lie, it is a fake built in 1958. The only surviving section of the aqueduct was discovered by chance in 1988 after the demolition of a building in Duran i Bas street.
These are four arches in a very good state of preservation that can be seen in the space left by that demolition, the current Plaza Vuit de Març. Of course, as part of the dividing wall of the adjoining building.
The Roman colony of Barcino was supplied with water thanks to a double aqueduct that converged in the current Plaza Nova. One of them brought water from the Besòs from what is now the municipality of Montcada i Reixach. The second seems to have come from Collserola. The one in Montcada, to which the arches of the Vuit de Març square belong, was built in the 1st century and was a little more than 11 kilometers long.
This infrastructure, essential to ensure the arrival of a permanent flow of water to the city, was in operation until the 9th and 10th centuries, when it was replaced by the Rec Comtal. The arches discovered in 1988 occupy about 20 meters and are in fact the only surviving section of the aqueduct, preserved thanks to the fact that it was used as part of the dividing wall of buildings 12 and 14 on Duran i Bas street. Both buildings, the one still standing and the one demolished at the end of the 1980s, were built in the 19th century.
In recent years, only the foundations and bases of some of the aqueduct towers on Magdalenes street have been discovered, as well as a section of canalization on Coronel Monasterio street, in the Sant Andreu neighbourhood. An old cistern has also been recovered inside the Casa de la Ardiaca, where the double channeling that converged in Plaça Nova can also be seen.
It is also known of the existence, at least until the end of the 18th century, of a section of the aqueduct between what is now Trafalgar Street and Sant Pere de les Puel les.
The discovery of the arches in Duran i Bas came as a complete surprise to the archaeologists, who were able to document the method that the Romans used in the construction of the aqueduct.
