10/20/2009

Foggaras .. Blood flow of life in deserts.



Foggaras are traditional systems of water catchments and distribution typical of arid and semiarid areas. They are made up of horizontal underground shafts that drain water and convey it by gravity to areas where it is needed. The drainage tunnels catch only the quantity of water that can autonomously reproduce and represent a harmonious system of maintaining water tables that are thus fed through the catchments of humidity and hidden precipitation. As a matter of fact they are considered as real structures of water production. They have been widespread since the 1st millennium b.C. with different names: qanat, khettara,falaj, madjrat or minas. Foggaras are also traditional technologies belonging to the cultural heritage of peoples who safeguard this ancient and clever know-how in any situations. Closely related to the building of mausoleum and settlements, they characterize landscapes that their constructions made fertile.

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