Water supply

The supply of water is indispensable for life in all civilisations. Within a town demand for water is very considerable, and public baths, fountains, workshops and private houses have all to be supplied. Nyon thus had an aqueduct. The Roman engineers no doubt chose the springs in Divonne, now in neighbouring France, as the starting-point; they are situated at a slight altitude and provide an abundance of pure water. To date, however, no archaeological traces of the facilities for exploiting the springs have been found

The aqueduct in Nyon comprises two walls of masonry covered by vaulting and a floor of terracotta slabs. Recent research would seem to show that the method of construction varied in the different sections. The discovery of a number of sections both in France and in Switzerland has made possible an approximate reconstitution of its layout. It is about ten kilometres long, with an average gradient of 8.5 ‰. The last section identified is located to the west of Nyon but neither the final line of the aqueduct nor the point at which it terminated within the town are known at this time.