Beneath our feet lies a hidden marvel the Carré des eaux de Wissous. This square is not visible today. It remains buried under meters of earth. Yet its historical importance is immense. The Carré des eaux de Wissous marks the starting point of the aqueduct of Lutèce.
Imagine the hustle and bustle of Roman Paris. To provide Lutèce with better water than the Seine the Romans sought sources to the south. They wanted to drain water from these sources. The water carried by the aqueduct of Lutèce supplied the thermal baths. These included the Thermes de l’Est and the Thermes de Cluny.
The Carré des eaux de Wissous played a crucial role in this system. It acted as a collection point. A series of small channels or rigoles channeled water. They came from various southern sources including Chilly and Morangis. The Carré des eaux de Wissous connected via another rigole. This rigole connected to the Carré des eaux de Rungis. The Carré des eaux de Rungis was another collection basin. It also served as the starting point for the Aqueduc Médicis.
The remains of these structures faded from memory. However they were rediscovered in the 19th century. Eugène Belgrand played a vital role. He served as the director of the water and sewer services of Paris. Belgrand mapped out the route. Later the Commission du Vieux Paris studied it further. They conducted excavations at the beginning of the 20th century.
The basin itself was square. Each side measured 3.22 meters internally. Inside the basin was a square tank. It measured 2.07 meters per side. Each of the four walls featured an opening. A channel entered through each opening. The Rungis channel arrived on the northwest side. The small Wissous channel arrived on the southeast side. The large Wissous channel arrived on the northeast side. The aqueduct to Paris departed on the southwest side. This last threshold was the lowest. It stood at 0.12 meters.
Wissous has been a center of human settlement since 1000 BC. Eugène Belgrand’s studies confirmed Wissous as Lutèce’s water tower. This was during the Roman era from the 1st to the 4th century AD. The waters of Wissous and its surroundings fed the capital’s thermal baths. They did this through an aqueduct. Belgrand rediscovered the route of this main aqueduct. He also found various secondary conduits. Two of these conduits collected spring water from Wissous. They connected to the reservoir called the Carré des eaux. The main aqueduct to Lutèce started from this reservoir.
The Commission du Vieux Paris examined this Carré des eaux in detail in 1903. Today it lies beneath 10 meters of backfill.
Even before the northern sources of Paris Romans imagined an aqueduct. This aqueduct would supply Lutèce. It would draw from the heights of Rungis and Wissous. While the aqueduct’s remains in Paris are visible the route from the sources remains approximate. It follows a similar path to the Aqueduc Médicis. A section of the aqueduct leading to Paris was discovered in La Haye.
The Roman basin for capturing springs in Wissous was discovered in 1874. Eugène Belgrand found it. The commission later re-excavated and studied it in 1903.
The method of capturing water at the Carré des eaux in Rungis mirrored that used for the Noé springs in Sens. The Romans also operated this. The aqueduct from Wissous supplied 1500 cubic meters of water daily. It served the Thermes.
Though hidden the Carré des eaux de Wissous remains a testament. It testifies to Roman ingenuity and the importance of water. It reminds us that even beneath our feet history flows.