The Genesis Of Garden Fountains
The Genesis Of Garden Fountains 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.The primary purpose of a fountain was originally strictly functional. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to provide them with drinking water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Up until the 19th century, fountains had to be more elevated and closer to a water source, such as aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to take advantage of gravity which fed the fountains. Fountains were an excellent source of water, and also served to adorn living areas and celebrate the designer.
Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often times used by Romans to decorate their fountains. Throughout the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners included fountains to create mini variations of the gardens of paradise. Fountains enjoyed a significant role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exert his power over nature. To mark the entryway 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 arrived in the city of Rome
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. The creation of special water effects and the recycling of water were two things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
Modern-day fountains serve mostly as decoration for community spaces, to honor individuals or events, and compliment entertainment and recreational events.
Early Water Supply Solutions in The City Of Rome
Early Water Supply Solutions in The City Of Rome With the development of the 1st elevated aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, people who lived on the city’s hills no longer had to be dependent entirely on naturally-occurring spring water for their requirements. Throughout this period, there were only two other systems capable of providing water to elevated areas, subterranean wells and cisterns, which accumulated rainwater. From the early sixteenth century, water was routed to Pincian Hill by way of the underground channel of Acqua Vergine. During the length of the aqueduct’s passage were pozzi, or manholes, that gave entry. The manholes made it easier to thoroughly clean the channel, but it was also possible to use buckets to pull water from the aqueduct, as we discovered with Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi when he bought the property from 1543 to 1552, the year he passed away.
Though the cardinal also had a cistern to accumulate rainwater, it didn’t supply sufficient water. To provide himself with a more efficient means to obtain water, he had one of the manholes opened up, giving him access to the aqueduct below his residence.