Acqua Vergine: The Remedy to Rome's Water Problems

Acqua Vergine: The Remedy to Rome's Water Problems Aqua Anio Vetus, the first raised aqueduct founded in Rome, commenced providing the people living in the hills with water in 273 BC, though they had depended on natural springs up till then. Throughout this period, there were only two other technologies capable of supplying water to elevated areas, subterranean wells and cisterns, which accumulated rainwater. In the very early 16th century, the city began to make use of the water that ran below the ground through Acqua Vergine to deliver water to Pincian Hill. Throughout the time of its original construction, pozzi (or manholes) were situated at set intervals alongside the aqueduct’s channel. The manholes made it easier to thoroughly clean the channel, but it was also achievable to use buckets to pull water from the aqueduct, as we observed with Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi when he owned the property from 1543 to 1552, the year he passed away. Apparently, the rainwater cistern on his property wasn’t adequate to meet his needs. That is when he made the decision to create an access point to the aqueduct that ran beneath his property.

From Where Did Water Fountains Originate?

From Where Did Water Fountains Originate? Water Fountains Originate? 13602532.jpg

The translation of hundreds of classical Greek texts into Latin was commissioned by the scholarly Pope Nicholas V who led the Church in Rome from 1397 until 1455. It was important for him to embellish the city of Rome to make it worthy of being called the capital of the Christian world. In 1453 the Pope instigated the rebuilding of the Aqua Vergine, an historic Roman aqueduct which had carried fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away. A mostra, a monumental celebratory fountain constructed by ancient Romans to mark the point of arrival of an aqueduct, was a practice which was revived by Nicholas V. The Trevi Fountain now occupies the space formerly filled with a wall fountain built by Leon Battista Albert, an architect commissioned by the Pope. The Trevi Fountain as well as the renowned baroque fountains found in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona were eventually supplied with water from the altered aqueduct he had rebuilt.

The Original Fountain Artists

The Original Fountain Artists Frequently serving as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and cultivated scholars, all in one, fountain creators were multi-talented individuals from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century. Leonardo da Vinci as a creative master, inventor and scientific expert exemplified this Renaissance master. With his astounding fascination regarding the forces of nature, he researched the qualities and movement of water and carefully documented his findings in his now celebrated notebooks. Brilliant water exhibits complete of symbolic significance and all-natural wonder transformed private villa settings when early Italian water fountain designers combined creativity with hydraulic and landscaping expertise. The brilliance in Tivoli were provided by the humanist Pirro Ligorio, who was famed for his capabilities in archeology, architecture and garden design. Masterminding the phenomenal water marbles, water features and water antics for the numerous estates near Florence, other water feature engineers were well versed in humanistic topics and time-honored scientific texts.

The Public Water Fountains

The Public Water Fountains Water fountains were initially practical in function, used to bring water from canals or creeks to towns and villages, providing the inhabitants with fresh water to drink, wash, and prepare food with. Gravity was the power supply of water fountains up until the close of the nineteenth century, using the forceful power of water traveling down hill from a spring or creek to squeeze the water through spigots or other outlets. Fountains throughout history have been crafted as monuments, impressing hometown citizens and travelers alike. Simple in design, the very first water fountains did not look much like modern-day fountains. Public Water Fountains 26285613738.jpg

Designed for drinking water and ceremonial reasons, the first fountains were very simple carved stone basins. 2000 B.C. is when the oldest identified stone fountain basins were used. The spray of water emerging from small spouts was pressured by gravity, the lone power source designers had in those days. Drinking water was provided by public fountains, long before fountains became ornate public statues, as beautiful as they are functional. Fountains with ornamental Gods, mythological beasts, and animals began to show up in Rome in about 6 B.C., crafted from rock and bronze. Water for the public fountains of Rome was delivered to the city via a elaborate system of water aqueducts.