A Short History of the Early Outdoor Water Fountains

A Short History of the Early Outdoor Water Fountains Water fountains were originally practical in function, used to bring water from rivers or creeks to cities and hamlets, providing the residents with clean water to drink, bathe, and cook with. A source of water higher in elevation than the fountain was necessary to pressurize the flow and send water squirting from the fountain's spout, a system without equal until the later part of the nineteenth century. Fountains all through history have been designed as monuments, impressing hometown citizens and travelers alike. If you saw the first fountains, you wouldn't recognize them as fountains. Simple stone basins sculpted from nearby rock were the first fountains, used for religious purposes and drinking water. The oldest stone basins are thought to be from about 2000 BC. The earliest civilizations that made use of fountains depended on gravity to force water through spigots. Situated near reservoirs or creeks, the practical public water fountains supplied the local residents with fresh drinking water. Short History Early Outdoor Water Fountains 439282630235.jpg

Short History Early Outdoor Water Fountains 439282630235.jpg

Fountains with ornate decoration started to appear in Rome in approximately 6 B.C., normally gods and wildlife, made with stone or bronze. Water for the community fountains of Rome was brought to the city via a complex system of water aqueducts.

The Godfather Of Roman Water Features

The Godfather Of Roman Water Features There are lots of renowned Roman water fountains in its city center. Nearly all of them were planned, designed and built by one of the finest sculptors and artists of the 17th century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Also a city builder, he had skills as a water fountain developer, and remnants of his life's work are apparent throughout the avenues of Rome. Bernini's father, a renowned Florentine sculptor, mentored his young son, and they ultimately moved to Rome, in order to fully express their art, primarily in the form of public water fountains and water features. An excellent employee, the young Bernini acquired compliments and the backing of various popes and influential designers. He was originally renowned for his sculpture. An authority in historical Greek architecture, he utilized this knowledge as a foundation and melded it flawlessly with Roman marble, most notably in the Vatican. Though many artists impacted his artistic endeavors, Michelangelo affected him the most.

Rome’s Early Water Delivery Systems

Rome’s Early Water Delivery Systems Rome’s first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was built in 273 BC; prior to that, citizens living at higher elevations had to rely on local springs for their water. Outside of these aqueducts and springs, wells and rainwater-collecting cisterns were the lone technologies obtainable at the time to supply water to segments of greater elevation. In the very early 16th century, the city began to utilize the water that flowed beneath the earth through Acqua Vergine to furnish drinking water to Pincian Hill. As originally constructed, the aqueduct was provided along the length of its channel with pozzi (manholes) constructed at regular intervals. The manholes made it less demanding to maintain the channel, but it was also possible to use buckets to remove water from the aqueduct, as we saw with Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi when he operated the property from 1543 to 1552, the year he passed away. Apparently, the rainwater cistern on his property wasn’t enough to satisfy his needs. By using an opening to the aqueduct that ran below his property, he was in a position to satisfy his water needs.