“The Italian hole” - The underground ancient Roman aqueduct in Novalja (Exhibition)

With photographs and video animations, this project will try to present the appearance of the underground ancient Roman aqueduct in Novalja which is a unique cultural monument on the Croatian islands. This is a 1.1 km long construction carved into a wall which brought a flow of water from the Novalja Field to Novalja in the ancient times. According to numerous archaeological findings, a settlement and a port were located in the Roman times in the geographical area of present-day Novalja.
The underground aqueduct had been forgotten for centuries, but was then rediscovered in the 19th century. The first drawings of the initial and the last part of the aqueduct were made by Mijat Sabljar from the Zagreb National Museum. These drawings are still an important source of information on this unique construction.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the aqueduct was in good working order several times, and after the Second World War, when iron water pipes were installed, it was Novalja’s water supply for decades. The cleaning and documenting of the aqueduct began in 2007 when the aqueduct stopped functioning. At that time, a lot of important details, tools and materials were found, and many interesting construction methods were identified.
The aim of this exhibition is to present the underground aqueduct in Novalja in an interesting way, with all its features and its cultural and historical significance.