Paredes de Nava Pier

The Canal de Castilla, a major hydraulic engineering project of Enlightenment Spain, left behind one of the most prosperous canal settlements of the 18th and 19th centuries as it passed through Paredes de Nava: Sahagún el Real, an old village located southwest of the town in the Tierra de Campos region. This site, currently undergoing restoration, is a unique example of how the canal generated inhabited spaces organized around its activity.

Within this complex, the Sahagún el Real wharf occupies a fundamental place, as it established the direct link between the canal and the town. Associated with the loading, unloading, and inspection of goods, the wharf allows us to understand the canal’s role as a transport route and as a structuring element of the territory. Alongside it are preserved buildings related to its operation, such as the old warehouses and the Casa del Fiel (House of the Faithful), as well as the Ermita del Canal (Canal Chapel), the only religious building directly linked to this infrastructure.

The canal’s passage through Paredes de Nava also left behind important hydraulic features, most notably the Real, Carrular, Melgar, and Mayor aqueducts, as well as the Nevilla and Deseo bridges and the spillway of the Arroyo Mayor stream. A walk along the towpaths, starting from the Sahagún bridge and following the left bank, allows for a leisurely exploration of this artificial river with its tranquil waters and its complex engineering.

The dock and the complex of Sahagún el Real constitute today a key space to understand the Canal de Castilla as an inhabited historical landscape, where infrastructure, architecture and daily life were closely linked.