Built: Around 70 AD

In ancient Rome, water was used not least to secure the standard of living of the population. With the help of an aqueduct, the precious liquid could be transported kilometers away to military camps and cities. With the water pipeline in Mainz, the ancient occupying power achieved an architectural superlative: the highest aqueduct north of the Alps.

The legionary camp required large quantities of water. Assuming a daily consumption of 2.5 liters per soldier, the aqueduct transported at least 30,000 liters per day. This is because around 12,000 legionaries were stationed in Mogontiacum.

From the source area in the Finthen district, approximately nine kilometers away, the pipeline initially ran underground. However, due to the increasing gradient, it then continued above ground. It ended on what is now the site of the university hospitals.

To overcome the greatest difference in height in Zahlbach, the pillars needed to be up to 30 meters high. The distance from the center of one pillar to the center of the next was 8.50 meters. The water flowed in the channel at the top of the pillar. The channel measured approximately 40 by 90 centimeters.

The square casing of the pillar cores was used for other structures in later centuries.

Today, only 59 of the aqueduct's pillars are still visible. They are seven meters high. The Roman stones in the Bretzenheim-Zahlbach district are open to visitors. Apart from the Roman stones, only the pillar foundations

at the university sports field remain as a reminder of the aqueduct. They were found in the 1950s during the construction of the university sports facility and rebuilt from the original material a few meters away from their original location.

A section of the wall of the distribution basin, located on the grounds of the university hospitals, has also been preserved.