The Earliest Public Water Features

The Earliest Public Water Features Water fountains were at first practical in purpose, used to deliver water from rivers or springs to towns and hamlets, providing the inhabitants with fresh water to drink, bathe, and cook with.

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To produce water flow through a fountain until the later part of the 1800’s, and generate a jet of water, demanded the force of gravity and a water source such as a creek or lake, located higher than the fountain. Inspirational and spectacular, large water fountains have been designed as memorials in most cultures. Crude in design, the 1st water fountains did not look much like modern fountains. The very first accepted water fountain was a stone basin carved that was used as a receptacle for drinking water and ceremonial purposes. The initial stone basins are thought to be from around 2000 B.C.. Gravity was the power source that operated the initial water fountains. These original fountains were created to be functional, often situated along reservoirs, creeks and rivers to supply drinking water. Fountains with decorative Gods, mythological beasts, and creatures began to show up in Rome in about 6 B.C., built from rock and bronze. A well-engineered system of reservoirs and aqueducts kept Rome's public fountains supplied with fresh water.

The Minoan Society: Fountains

The Minoan Society: Fountains On the Greek island of Crete, digs have unearthed conduits of several sorts. They not solely helped with the water supplies, they eliminated rainwater and wastewater as well. Rock and terracotta were the materials of choice for these conduits. Minoan Society: Fountains 0541135223.jpg

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Terracotta was selected for channels and water pipes, both rectangular and round. The cone-like and U-shaped terracotta piping that were discovered haven’t been detected in any other civilization. Knossos Palace had an state-of-the-art plumbing system made of terracotta piping which ran up to three meters under ground. Along with disbursing water, the terracotta pipes of the Minoans were also utilized to accumulate water and store it. Therefore, these pipes had to be effective to: Underground Water Transportation: This system’s hidden nature might mean that it was originally manufactured for some type of ritual or to allocate water to restricted groups. Quality Water Transportation: Many historians feel that these conduits were chosen to build a separate distribution system for the palace.

The History of Outdoor Fountains

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Pope Nicholas V, himself a well educated man, governed the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of ancient classic Greek texts into Latin. Embellishing Rome and making it the worthy capital of the Christian world was at the center of his ambitions. At the bidding of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a ruined aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was restored starting in 1453. A mostra, a monumental dedicatory fountain constructed by ancient Romans to mark the point of entry of an aqueduct, was a custom which was revived by Nicholas V. The present-day site of the Trevi Fountain was once occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and constructed by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. The water which eventually furnished the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona flowed from the modified aqueduct which he had renovated.

Bernini's First Masterpieces

Bernini's First Masterpieces Bernini's earliest fountain, named Barcaccia, is a breath taking work of art found at the foot of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. To this day, this area is filled with Roman locals and travelers alike who enjoy debate and each other's company. Bernini would without a doubt have been happy to know that people still flock to what has become one the city's trendiest areas, that around his amazing fountain. In about 1630, the great artist built the first fountain of his career at the behest of Pope Ubano VIII. People can now see the fountain as a depiction of a commanding ship gradually sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. The great flooding of the Tevere that covered the whole region with water in the 16th was memorialized by this momentous fountain as recorded by documents dating back to this time. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a prolonged period of time, in 1665 Bernini traveled to France.