Aqueducts: The Answer to Rome's Water Problems

Aqueducts: The Answer to Rome's Water Problems Aqueducts: Answer Rome's Water Problems 0132537011.jpg

Prior to 273, when the first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was constructed in Rome, residents who lived on hillsides had to journey even further down to get their water from natural sources. When aqueducts or springs weren’t easily accessible, people living at raised elevations turned to water removed from underground or rainwater, which was made possible by wells and cisterns. Beginning in the sixteenth century, a brand new method was introduced, using Acqua Vergine’s subterranean segments to supply water to Pincian Hill. As originally constructed, the aqueduct was provided along the length of its channel with pozzi (manholes) constructed at regular intervals. While these manholes were developed to make it much easier to sustain the aqueduct, it was also feasible to use containers to remove water from the channel, which was carried out by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he invested in the property in 1543 to his passing in 1552. Whilst the cardinal also had a cistern to get rainwater, it couldn't provide enough water. That is when he made a decision to create an access point to the aqueduct that ran under his property.

The First Modern Wall Fountains

The First Modern Wall Fountains The translation of hundreds of classic Greek documents into Latin was commissioned by the learned Pope Nicholas V who led the Church in Rome from 1397 until 1455. He undertook the beautification of Rome to make it into the worthy capital of the Christian world. At the bidding of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a ruined aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was renovated starting in 1453. Building a mostra, a grandiose celebratory fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the entry point of an aqueduct, was a custom revived by Nicholas V. The architect Leon Battista Alberti was commissioned by the Pope to construct a wall fountain where we now see the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain as well as the renowned baroque fountains located in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona were eventually supplied with water from the modified aqueduct he had reconstructed.