A Symbolic Lieu de Memoire

The Aqueduct of Valens has seen quite the history, as evidenced through the five “points” of its history that were just explored. It has withstood wars and turmoil and emerged certainly as a  certain lieu de memoire—one that Nora would say is a "symbolic" one today. When it first emerged in the 4th century as a way to provide water for a city that needed it very direly, it immediately became what Nora would call a "functional" lieu due to its sheer purpose and functionality. And the city plunged into wars, sieges, and droughts, and Aqueduct withstood it all, transitioning over time into a more "symbolic" lieu de memoire that became romanticized. 

This transition in its purpose and memory through the centuries is what makes it the ultimate example of a lieu de memoire. As an initial functional powerhouse for various empires, it served as a “functional” lieu de memoire. Over the years though, it emerged as a more romanticized relic of the past, which today is integrated into the modern, urban fabric of the city, remaining for the city a lieu de memoire of a time and place gone by.