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Origin and history

The canal from Gorze to Metz, built around the beginning of the second century, was an essential Roman work to feed Divodurum (Metz), capital of the Mediomatrics. With 22 km of route, it linked the source of Bouillons (near Gorze, 208 m above sea level) to the city (184 m), combining 12.7 km of underground driving, a 1,125 km water bridge crossing the Moselle River, and an additional 8 km underground. Its flow provided fountains, thermal baths (including those of Carmel), public latrines and artisans, for an estimated population of 20,000.

The construction involved advanced Roman techniques: radiate on oak piles for foundations, piles of cut stone filled with Roman concrete (mixture of lime mortar, crushed bricks and rubble), and double pipe (0.85 m wide) to ensure continuous supply even during maintenance. The materials — local stones, bricks moulded on site, lime produced in situ — were transported via wooden scaffolding. The tools included chorobat (levelling), groma (alignments) and lifting equipment such as goats.

The underground route from Gorze to Ars-sur-Moselle (12.7 km) followed the Gorze Valley, crossed villages like Noveant, and integrated the waters of Mont Saint-Belin. The pipe, 1.20 m wide and 1.80 m high, was arched in the middle of the hanger and paved, with regular maintenance looks. At Ars-sur-Moselle, a rectangular settling basin (4.4 m × 3.2 m) filtered the impurities before the water reached, via a 90° drop and turn, the two pipes of the water bridge. This basin, dedicated to the divinities of the water, also received the waters of a local stream and regulated the flow via guillotine valves.

The aqueduct bridge, 1.1 km long (including 630 m above the Moselle), initially had 110 to 120 arches 12 m wide, 30 m high for the highest. The square piles, based on a radier, supported impostes and arches built using wooden hangers. The double pipe, on a steep slope (4 m by 1.1 km), avoided winter frost and limited sand deposits, although it accelerated wall wear. At Jouy-aux-Arches, a circular reception basin (6 m outside diameter) broke the current before distribution to Metz, via an underground line following partly the old Roman way.

Ranked a historic monument in 1840 (first French list), the aqueduct was restored in the 19th century. Today, there are two basins and about twenty arches: in Ars-sur-Moselle, one basin and seven arches (including five contiguous ones); At Jouy-aux-Arches, sixteen arches and a collection basin. The remains, which have been owned by the State since 2006 for certain plots, bear witness to Roman engineering and the strategic importance of Metz, a crossroads between Lyon-Trèves and Reims-Strasbourg.

Archaeological and historical sources (Tabouillot, 1761; Lalance, 1923; Grenier, 1960) underline its role in ancient urban planning. Divodurum, with three baths and an amphitheater, depended on several aqueducts, but Gorze's one remains the best documented. The excavations revealed sculptures and paintings dedicated to aquatic deities, confirming the sacred dimension of water in Gallo-Roman culture.

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