One of the most modern and interesting museums in Alicante is the singular Alicante Water Museum. It was inaugurated in 2009 as a business proposal whose objective was to promote and disseminate the enormous importance of water in the Alicante community.
Located at a strategic point in the old Plaza del Puente neighbourhood and close to the Saint Barbara Castle, the Alicante Water Museum quickly became an instant success. Its creative theme and ever-changing concept allowed it to adapt to current circumstances and produce an interactive way of displaying content to the public.
The museum is distributed over three floors, with a high didactic content, where visitors and spectators get first-hand information about the way in which water has been managed since ancient times and its enormous importance in the development of Alicante.
Next to the museum are the famous Garrigós Wells, which are ancient cisterns. Some of the oldest are suspected to be from the Muslim era, while others date from the 16th century. These wells dug into the rock, whose enormous dimensions were around 141,000, 275,000 and even 425,000 cubic decimetres, were key to the distribution of water to the city and its subsequent storage to alleviate the intense droughts that the region suffered in the past.
The Garrigós Wells were very useful for centuries until, in 1898, they ceased to be used and were replaced by the water extracted from the town of Sax.
What to see in Alicante