Exhibition produced by Dubrovnik Museums, Archaeological Museum
This exhibition interactively presents the results of several years of research into the Roman aqueduct that supplied what is today Cavtat but was once the Roman colony of Epidarum with drinking water drawn from the spring at Vodovađa.
In this dry, karstic area, running water was a precondition for the development of the ancient city and its productive economy, and was an important factor in the density of population.
The aqueduct passes through the north-east part of Konavle, the name of which is derived from the word for channel. Archaeological reconnaissance and excavation has registered thirty sites with remains of this majestic public project. Dates between AD 14 and 27, during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, when Dalmatia was governed by the enterprising and capable Publius Cornelius Dolabella, have been proposed for the construction of the conduit. This can be gathered from an incomplete epitaph from Cavtat mentioning the governor and the 6th Volunteer Cohort as having been engaged together on some major engineering works.
Especially for the exhibition, Dubrovnik Museums have been among the first to employ laser scanning of individual sites with remains of the channel that will serve not only for presentation but also for future operations aimed at preserving this important part of the heritage.
Exhibition devised by Liljana Kovačić
Exhibition layout and design by Ivona Michl