Acqua Vergine: The Solution to Rome's Water Problems

Acqua Vergine: Solution Rome's Water Problems 4630635784116.jpg

Acqua Vergine: The Solution to Rome's Water Problems Rome’s very first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was built in 273 BC; prior to that, inhabitants living at higher elevations had to depend on local creeks for their water. When aqueducts or springs weren’t accessible, people dwelling at raised elevations turned to water pulled from underground or rainwater, which was made possible by wells and cisterns. To provide water to Pincian Hill in the early sixteenth century, they implemented the brand-new tactic of redirecting the movement from the Acqua Vergine aqueduct’s underground network. The aqueduct’s channel was made attainable by pozzi, or manholes, that were situated along its length when it was first constructed. Whilst these manholes were created to make it simpler and easier to manage the aqueduct, it was also possible to use buckets to remove water from the channel, which was utilized by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he obtained the property in 1543 to his death in 1552. It appears that, the rainwater cistern on his property wasn’t sufficient to fulfill his needs. That is when he decided to create an access point to the aqueduct that ran directly below his property.

Bernini's Early Masterpieces

Bernini's Early Masterpieces One can see Bernini's very first masterpiece, the Barcaccia water fountain, at the bottom of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. This area is still filled with Roman locals and visitors who like to exchanging gossip or going over the day's news. Today, the city streets around Bernini's fountain are a trendy area where people go to meet, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. In about 1630, the great master designed the first water fountain of his career at the behest of Pope Ubano VIII. A massive ship slowly sinking into the Mediterranean is the fountain's main theme. Period reports dating back to the 16th century indicate that the fountain was constructed as a monument to those who lost their lives in the great flooding of the Tevere. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a prolonged time period, in 1665 Bernini traveled to France.

The History of Garden Fountains

The History of Garden Fountains 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 old classical Greek documents into Latin. It was imperative for him to beautify the city of Rome to make it worthy of being called the capital of the Christian world. Starting in 1453, the ruined ancient Roman aqueduct known as the Aqua Vergine which had brought clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away, underwent repair at the bidding of the Pope. Building a mostra, a grandiose commemorative fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the entry point of an aqueduct, was a custom revived by Nicholas V. At the behest of the Pope, architect Leon Battista Alberti undertook the construction of a wall fountain in the place where we now find the Trevi Fountain. The water which eventually provided the Trevi Fountain as well as the acclaimed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona came from the modified aqueduct which he had renovated.