“It took years,” Vito said as we walked toward a table in Trattoria Bettina, “but the Muslims cut through the rock and laid pipes and tunnels all across Palermo, providing pathways for the water to run from the streams above the city to the homes and businesses below.”
We settled into a table under the darkening sky, and Vito waved to the waiter. He didn’t have to order; a bottle of his favorite Nero d’Avola would be coming.
“It was a truly amazing feat, as successful as the Roman aqueduct system but, in its way, more complicated. The aqueducts brought water from the mountains to the cities and mostly filled the cisterns and fountains. The qanāt brought it right into the buildings themselves, and it did so underneath an already-constructed urban environment.
qanāt “But, then – with apol
