How Mechanical Designs of Water Fountains Spread
How Mechanical Designs of Water Fountains Spread
The Genesis Of Fountains
The Genesis Of Fountains A fountain, an incredible piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also launch water high into the air for an extraordinary effect.Pure functionality was the original purpose of fountains. Water fountains were connected to a spring or aqueduct to supply potable water as well as bathing water for cities, townships and villages. Until the late nineteenth, century most water fountains operated using gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a supply of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Acting as an element of decoration and celebration, fountains also generated clean, fresh drinking water. Roman fountains usually depicted images of animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to mimic the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to illustrate his superiority over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were glorified with baroque style fountains made to mark the arrival points of Roman aqueducts.
Since indoor plumbing became the norm of the day for clean, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely decorative. Amazing water effects and recycled water were made possible by replacing the force of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Decorating city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the functions of modern-day fountains.
Water Transport Solutions in Early Rome
Water Transport Solutions in Early Rome Prior to 273, when the first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was constructed in Rome, inhabitants who dwelled on hills had to go further down to collect their water from natural sources. Outside of these aqueducts and springs, wells and rainwater-collecting cisterns were the sole technologies available at the time to supply water to areas of greater elevation. From the early sixteenth century, water was routed to Pincian Hill by way of the subterranean channel of Acqua Vergine. Pozzi, or manholes, were built at regular intervals along the aqueduct’s channel.