WATER BOX
The Caja or Arca del Agua is a building that dates back to 1780.
It was built by the master architect in masonry and plumbing Antonio Ruiz Florindo, director of the works that were carried out between 1776 and 1781 to bring water to Puerto Real from the springs of Fuente de la Higuera, about 11 kilometers from the town, being this construction the final destination of the channeling and from where it was distributed to different sources located in various parts of the town.
Its construction resembles a small chapel of Sevillian baroque style. Rectangular in plan, it is conceived as a vaulted cube with a public fountain on one of its sides. The decoration is located on the exterior cover, with three niches that have in their interior three small ceramic altarpieces of Triana tiles of the eighteenth century with the iconography of the patron saints of Puerto Real, San Roque and San Sebastian, as well as the Virgin of the Rosary.
At the time of its construction it was located in an outer area of the town known as “the lagoon” which would not be until the mid-nineteenth century when it was rearranged to become the current “Jardines del Porvenir”, coinciding with the arrival of the train to the town, when this place becomes a place of entry and exit of visitors.
This Caja del Agua was complemented by another located at the town’s dock that supplied water to ships approaching the coast of Puerto Real.
