The Origins Of Outdoor Fountains
The Origins Of Outdoor Fountains A water fountain is an architectural piece that pours water into a basin or jets it high into the air in order to provide drinking water, as well as for decorative purposes. From the beginning, outdoor fountains were simply there to serve as functional elements. Residents of urban areas, townships and small towns used them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash, which meant that fountains needed to be linked to nearby aqueduct or spring. Up until the 19th century, fountains had to be more elevated and closer to a water source, including aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to take advantage of gravity which fed the fountains. Fountains were not only utilized as a water source for drinking water, but also to decorate homes and celebrate the artist who created it. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often times utilized by Romans to decorate their fountains. Throughout the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners incorporated fountains to create mini depictions of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to demonstrate his dominion over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. To mark the entrance of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the construction of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts entered the city of Rome
Indoor plumbing became the main source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby restricting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. Impressive water effects and recycled water were made possible by switching the force of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Embellishing city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the uses of modern-day fountains.
Water Delivery Solutions in Ancient Rome
Water Delivery Solutions in Ancient Rome With the development of the very first raised aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, people who lived on the city’s hills no longer had to rely exclusively on naturally-occurring spring water for their demands. Outside of these aqueducts and springs, wells and rainwater-collecting cisterns were the only technological innovations obtainable at the time to supply water to spots of greater elevation. In the very early 16th century, the city began to utilize the water that ran underground through Acqua Vergine to deliver drinking water to Pincian Hill. Pozzi, or manholes, were engineered at regular intervals along the aqueduct’s channel. Although they were originally planned to make it possible to support the aqueduct, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi started out using the manholes to gather water from the channel, commencing when he obtained the property in 1543. He didn’t get a sufficient quantity of water from the cistern that he had built on his property to gather rainwater. To give himself with a much more practical way to gather water, he had one of the manholes opened, offering him access to the aqueduct below his property.