Levadas

A levada is an irrigation channel or aqueduct specific to the Portuguese Atlantic region of Madeira. Madeira island is wet in the northwest, but dry in the southeast. In the 16th century the Portuguese started building levadas (aqueducts) to carry water to the agricultural regions in the south. Due to the island's mountainous landscape, building levadas promised to be a difficult venture, often tasked to criminals and convicts from continental Portugal. Many are cut into the mountainsides, accompanied by 40 km (25 mi) of tunnels, some of which are still accessible.

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