Public Water Features Recorded by History

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Water fountains were originally practical in purpose, used to deliver water from rivers or creeks to towns and hamlets, providing the inhabitants with clean water to drink, wash, and cook with. In the years before electricity, the spray of fountains was driven by gravity alone, usually using an aqueduct or water source located far away in the surrounding hills. The splendor and wonder of fountains make them ideal for traditional memorials. The common fountains of today bear little resemblance to the first water fountains. Uncomplicated stone basins created from nearby material were the first fountains, used for religious ceremonies and drinking water. 2,000 BC is when the oldest known stone fountain basins were used. The first fountains put to use in ancient civilizations relied on gravity to manipulate the circulation of water through the fountain. Drinking water was provided by public fountains, long before fountains became ornate public monuments, as beautiful as they are functional. The people of Rome began constructing ornate fountains in 6 B.C., most of which were bronze or natural stone masks of wildlife and mythological characters. The remarkable aqueducts of Rome furnished water to the eye-catching public fountains, most of which you can visit today.

Back Story of Outdoor Fountains

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Back Story of Outdoor Fountains Pope Nicholas V, himself a learned man, governed the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of old classic Greek documents into Latin. In order to make Rome worthy of being the capital of the Christian world, the Pope decided to enhance the beauty of the city. In 1453 the Pope commissioned the repairing of the Aqua Vergine, an ancient Roman aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away. The ancient Roman custom of building an awe-inspiring commemorative fountain at the location where an aqueduct arrived, also known as a mostra, was restored by Nicholas V. The present-day location of the Trevi Fountain was once occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and constructed by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. Changes and extensions, included in the repaired aqueduct, eventually provided the Trevi Fountain and the well-known baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona with the necessary water supply.