The Genesis Of Fountains
The Genesis Of Fountains A fountain, an amazing piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also propel water high into the air for an extraordinary effect.The main purpose of a fountain was originally strictly practical. Residents of cities, townships and small towns utilized them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash up, which meant that fountains had to be linked to nearby aqueduct or spring. Up to the late nineteenth century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and higher than the fountain so that gravity could make the water flow downwards or shoot high into the air. Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to adorn living areas and celebrate the artist. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often utilized by Romans to decorate their fountains. To depict the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages added fountains to their designs. The fountains found in the Gardens of Versailles were supposed to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to laud their positions by including decorative baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
Urban fountains built at the end of the nineteenth served only as decorative and celebratory ornaments since indoor plumbing provided the essential drinking water. Fountains using mechanical pumps instead of gravity enabled fountains to provide recycled water into living spaces as well as create unique water effects.
Beautifying city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the functions of modern-day fountains.