Where did Landscape Fountains Begin?
Where did Landscape Fountains Begin?
The amazing or ornamental effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, as well as providing drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property. Pure functionality was the original role of fountains. Water fountains were connected to a spring or aqueduct to supply potable water as well as bathing water for cities, townships and villages. Up until the nineteenth, fountains had to be more elevated and closer to a water source, including aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to benefit from gravity which fed the fountains. Serving as an element of adornment and celebration, fountains also supplied clean, fresh drinking water. Bronze or stone masks of animals and heroes were commonly seen on Roman fountains. Muslims and Moorish garden designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller models of the gardens of paradise. To demonstrate his dominance over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries created baroque decorative fountains to glorify the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the spot where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
The end of the nineteenth century saw the rise in usage of indoor plumbing to provide drinking water, so urban fountains were relegated to purely decorative elements. Fountains using mechanical pumps instead of gravity enabled fountains to provide recycled water into living spaces as well as create unique water effects.
Modern fountains are used to embellish community spaces, honor individuals or events, and enrich recreational and entertainment events.