A lot of gardeners find that they are attracted to learning more about herbs as they are easy to grow and excellent to use in cooking.They're amazingly painless to grow both indoors or outdoors, and offer up instant gratification as you can make use of them in a variety of recipes including soups, marinades and sauces....
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The addition of a wall water feature or an outdoor garden fountain is an excellent way to embellish your yard or garden design.Any number of current designers and fountain craftsmen have found inspiration in the fountains and water features of the past....
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Water fountains will keep working a long time with routine cleaning and maintenance.It is easy for foreign objects to find their way into outdoor fountains, so keeping it clean is important....
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Indoor fountains are a useful addition in hospitals and wellness clinics because they contribute a peaceful, tranquil essence to them.People are fascinated by the soothing sounds of softly moving water which can result in a state of internal reflection....
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Water gives peace to your garden environment.The trickling sounds coming from your fountain can be helpful in masking any loud sounds in your surroundings....
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The reflective properties of water means it can make smaller spaces appear larger than they are.Dark materials increase the reflective properties of a fountain or water feature....
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Rome’s first raised aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was built in 273 BC; prior to that, people living at higher elevations had to depend on local springs for their water....
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Multi-talented individuals, fountain artists from the 16th to the late 18th century frequently worked as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and cultivated scholars all in one person....
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Pope Nicholas V, himself a well educated man, ruled the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of ancient classic Greek documents into Latin. Beautifying Rome and making it the worthy capital of the Christian world was at the center of his ambitions. Starting in 1453, the ruined ancient Roman aqueduct known as the Aqua Vergine which had brought clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away, underwent restoration at the behest of the Pope. Building a mostra, a grandiose commemorative fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the entry point of an aqueduct, was a tradition revived by Nicholas V. At the bidding of the Pope, architect Leon Battista Alberti began the construction of a wall fountain in the place where we now find the Trevi Fountain. The aqueduct he had reconditioned included modifications and extensions which eventually allowed it to supply water to the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona.
Bernini's earliest water fountain, named Barcaccia, is a masterful work of art seen at the foot of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. To this day, this spot is flooded with Roman locals and tourists alike who enjoy debate and each other's company. The streets surrounding his fountain have come to be one of the city’s most fashionable gathering places, something which would certainly have pleased Bernini himself. In about 1630, the great artist designed the very first water fountain of his career at the behest of Pope Ubano VIII. People can now see the fountain as an illustration of a commanding ship slowly sinking into the Mediterranean. The great 16th century flooding of the Tevere, which left the entire region inundated with water, was memorialized by the fountain according to documents from the time. In 1665 Bernini journeyed to France, in what was to be his only extended absence from Italy.
Anglo-Saxon Landscapes During the Norman Conquest Anglo-Saxons experienced extraordinary adjustments to their day-to-day lives in the latter half of the eleventh century due to the accession of the Normans. The Normans were better than the Anglo-Saxons at architecture and horticulture when they came into power. However, there was no time for home life, domestic architecture, and decoration until the Normans had overcome the whole region. Because of this, castles were cruder constructions than monasteries: Monasteries were frequently important stone buildings located in the biggest and most fecund valleys, while castles were built on windy crests where their residents dedicated time and space to projects for offense and defense. The serene method of gardening was unrealistic in these dreary bastions. Berkeley Castle is possibly the most complete model in existence nowadays of the early Anglo-Norman form of architecture. The keep is said to date from the time of William the Conqueror. A massive terrace serves as a hindrance to intruders who would attempt to mine the walls of the building. A scenic bowling green, covered in grass and surrounded by battlements clipped out of an ancient yew hedge, forms one of the terraces.