Modern Garden Decoration: Garden Fountains and their Beginnings
Modern Garden Decoration: Garden Fountains and their Beginnings A water fountain is an architectural piece that pours water into a basin or jets it high into the air in order to supply drinkable water, as well as for decorative purposes.
Pure functionality was the original purpose of fountains. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, from aqueducts or springs in the vicinity. Used until the 19th century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their origin of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from gravity. Fountains were not only utilized as a water source for drinking water, but also to adorn homes and celebrate the designer who created it. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often times utilized by Romans to decorate their fountains. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners incorporated fountains to create mini variations of the gardens of paradise. Fountains played a significant role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exercise his power over nature. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to extol their positions by adding beautiful baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
Indoor plumbing became the key source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby restricting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to enable fountains to bring in clean water and allow for beautiful water displays.
Beautifying city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the purposes of modern-day fountains.
Water Transport Strategies in Ancient Rome
Water Transport Strategies in Ancient Rome
With the construction of the first elevated aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, individuals who lived on the city’s hills no longer had to rely solely on naturally-occurring spring water for their demands. If inhabitants residing at higher elevations did not have access to springs or the aqueduct, they’d have to count on the other existing solutions of the day, cisterns that collected rainwater from the sky and subterranean wells that drew the water from under ground. To offer water to Pincian Hill in the early sixteenth century, they employed the brand-new method of redirecting the circulation from the Acqua Vergine aqueduct’s underground channel. Pozzi, or manholes, were built at regular stretches along the aqueduct’s channel. Even though they were initially developed to make it possible to support the aqueduct, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi began using the manholes to collect water from the channel, commencing when he purchased the property in 1543. Though the cardinal also had a cistern to amass rainwater, it didn’t provide sufficient water. Fortunately, the aqueduct sat directly below his residence, and he had a shaft established to give him accessibility.
Garden Fountains Lost to History
Garden Fountains Lost to History The water from springs and other sources was initially provided to the citizens of nearby towns and municipalities by way of water fountains, whose design was mainly practical, not aesthetic. In the years before electric power, the spray of fountains was driven by gravity exclusively, often using an aqueduct or water supply located far away in the surrounding hills. The beauty and spectacle of fountains make them appropriate for historical memorials. The common fountains of today bear little similarity to the first water fountains. Basic stone basins crafted from nearby material were the very first fountains, used for religious functions and drinking water. The first stone basins are presumed to be from about 2000 B.C.. The earliest civilizations that utilized fountains depended on gravity to push water through spigots. The placement of the fountains was driven by the water source, which is why you’ll usually find them along reservoirs, canals, or rivers. Fountains with ornamental Gods, mythological beasts, and animals began to appear in Rome in about 6 BC, built from rock and bronze. A well-engineered collection of reservoirs and aqueducts kept Rome's public water fountains supplied with fresh water.