The Pipes of the Pear Tree

Ten meters below Plaza de Isabel II, the Ópera Metro station (Lines 2, 5, and the North Branch) houses a museum recreation of the historic Caños del Peral fountain, the Amaniel aqueduct, and the Arenal sewer. The 200 m² museum is located on the station's second level, next to the access to the Line 2 platform towards Las Rosas and the escalators that provide access to Line 5.

The visit allows us to see the fountain that collected spring water next to the Arenal stream during the second half of the 16th century, and which was originally 34 meters long; the barrel-vaulted supply gallery; and the area's sewer.

and the aqueduct that, spanning the Arenal stream ravine, supplied water to the Royal Palace from the 17th century until practically the 20th century. Informative panels and three videos projected in a small amphitheater detail Madrid of that era and the history of the complex, which was once located in what is now the Plaza de Isabel II. The fountain supplied the population of Madrid through a distribution system carried out by water carriers, one of the most important guilds in the city, organized into water carriers with barrels, donkeys, jugs, and cups.