Most people know that the Romans had sewers to transport waste out of their cities and towns.
But what is relatively unknown is that these didn’t abruptly vanish when the Roman Empire slowly withdrew, people continued to find ways to get rid of their filth away from where they lived during the middle ages.
Because not a lot of people know about this I’ve decided to compile a list of all the towns, places, villages, etc. in Medieval Europe I could find that used sewers/drains, both the continuing use of Roman sewers but also newly build ones.
I’m only listing covered sewers and covered drains, not open sewers & gutters.
If I’ve missed one, let me know.
| Town/city/village | Description | Sources |
| B | ||
| Barcelona, Spain | Aqueduct-based sewer system, built in Roman times to avoid flooding during heavy rain, expanded in 1364, still in use. | https://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/bestofspain/19125/medieval-sewers-open-to-public-in-barcelona.aspx |
| Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands | Medieval open industrial drain slowly covered & used in town. | https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grebbe_(Bergen_op_Zoom) |
| F | ||
| Fano, Italy | Roman sewers continued in use during the Early and High Middle Ages. | The Historical Development of Sewers Worldwide |
| J | ||
| Jihlava, Czech Republic | Medieval underground sewers & tunnel system | https://www.showcaves.com/english/cz/subterranea/Jihlavasko.html |
| L | ||
| Lewes, England | Culverts at priory for toiletblock waste | https://twitter.com/fakehistoryhunt/status/1568768354760163330 |
| London, England | Underground sewers, possibly originally Roman, but still/again in use. | The Historical Development of Sewers Worldwide |
| Lyon, France | Network of medieval sewers | https://www.jstor.org/stable/623339 |
| P | ||
| Paisley | ||
| Paris, France | Underground vaulted sewers since 1370 on the rue Montmartre, more followed. | The Historical Development of Sewers Worldwide |
| Pavia, Italy | Roman sewers continued in use during the Early and High Middle Ages. | The Historical Development of Sewers Worldwide |
| R | ||
| Renfrewshire, Scotland | Covered drains, Paisley abbey | https://paisley.is/listing/what-was-found-at-abbey-drain-big-dig/ |
| V | ||
| Vienna, Austria | Roman & medieval sewers & drainage for waste | https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment/sewer-system/history/roman.html |
| Y | ||
| York, England | Underground sewers, like on Church Street, probably originally Roman but still/again in use. | The Historical Development of Sewers Worldwide |
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