Tepotzotlán Aqueduct, Aqueduct in Tepotzotlán, Mexico

The Tepotzotlán Aqueduct, also called Arcos del Sitio or Arcos de Xalpa, is a stone aqueduct built in the 18th century. It crosses a ravine with four tiers of arches, reaching 61 meters above the stream bed; its total length is 438 meters, or 492 meters including a surviving canal section. The photograph shows two tiers of seven and six arches, with brick-red outlines edging the arches and rough-hewn stone piers.

The Jesuits of the Colegio de San Francisco Xavier began the aqueduct in 1706 to water the Hacienda de Xalpa, over 40 km west. Their expulsion from New Spain in 1767 left it unfinished. The estate passed to Pedro Romero de Terreros, 1st Count of Regla, and a descendant had the water line completed in 1854.

The aqueduct carried water not to the college but to the Hacienda de Xalpa, the Jesuits' landed estate west of Tepotzotlán, as part of a channel over 40 km long. After the 1767 expulsion the estate passed to Pedro Romero de Terreros, 1st Count of Regla, and a descendant had the line finished in 1854. Locals call the structure Arcos del Sitio or Arcos de Xalpa.

The aqueduct stands inside the Centro Ecoturístico Arcos del Sitio, a small recreation park, so access follows the park's opening. The structure crosses a ravine about 29 km northwest of Tepotzotlán in the State of Mexico; paths in the park lead to viewpoints over the arches.

The aqueduct crosses a ravine at a height of 61 metres, with 43 arches on four levels; the full conduit ran over 40 km from the Tepotzotlán sierra to the Hacienda de Xalpa. After the Jesuits' expulsion in 1767 the Hacienda passed to Pedro Romero de Terreros, 1st Count of Regla, and a descendant had the water line finished in 1854.