Fountains: An Ideal Decor Accessory to Find Peace

Modern Garden Decor: Fountains and their Beginnings

Originally, fountains only served a functional purpose. Water fountains were linked to a spring or aqueduct to supply potable water as well as bathing water for cities, townships and villages. Used until the nineteenth century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their source of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from gravity. Acting as an element of decoration and celebration, fountains also supplied clean, fresh drinking water. Bronze or stone masks of wildlife and heroes were commonly seen on Roman fountains. Muslims and Moorish garden designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller versions of the gardens of paradise. To show his prominence over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. To mark the entrance of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the building of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts entered the city of Rome

Indoor plumbing became the key source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby limiting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. The creation of unique water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by replacing gravity with mechanical pumps.

Beautifying city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the uses of modern-day fountains.