Modern Garden Decor: Garden Fountains and their Beginnings
Modern Garden Decor: Garden Fountains and their Beginnings The amazing or ornamental effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to supplying drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.Originally, fountains only served a practical purpose. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with potable water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Until the late 19th, century most water fountains operated using the force of gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a source of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Fountains were an excellent source of water, and also served to decorate living areas and celebrate the designer.
Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often used by Romans to decorate their fountains. Muslims and Moorish landscaping designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller versions of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to illustrate his superiority over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries created baroque decorative fountains to exalt the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the spot where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Since indoor plumbing became the norm of the day for clean, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely ornamental. Impressive water effects and recycled water were made possible by switching the power of gravity with mechanical pumps.
These days, fountains decorate public areas and are used to honor individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.