The Genesis Of Garden Fountains
The Genesis Of Garden Fountains
A fountain, an incredible piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also propel water high into the air for an extraordinary effect. Originally, fountains only served a functional purpose. Water fountains were linked to a spring or aqueduct to supply drinkable water as well as bathing water for cities, townships and villages. Up to the late nineteenth century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and more elevated than the fountain so that gravity could make the water flow downwards or shoot high into the air. Serving as an element of decoration and celebration, fountains also generated clean, fresh drinking water. Bronze or stone masks of animals and heroes were commonly seen on Roman fountains. Throughout the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners incorporated fountains to create smaller depictions of the gardens of paradise. The fountains seen in the Gardens of Versailles were intended to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were extolled with baroque style fountains made to mark the arrival points of Roman aqueducts.
Since indoor plumbing became the standard of the day for fresh, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely ornamental. The creation of special water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by replacing gravity with mechanical pumps.
Embellishing city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the functions of modern-day fountains.
Can Wall Water Fountains Help Cleanse The Air?
Can Wall Water Fountains Help Cleanse The Air? An otherwise lackluster ambiance can be pepped up with an indoor wall fountain. Your senses and your health can benefit from the installation of one of these indoor features. The science behind this theory endorses the idea that water fountains can positively affect your health. Modern-day machines produce positive ions which are balanced out by the negative ions discharged by water features. The negative ions generated by these kinds of water features overtake the positive ones ending in positive shifts to both your psychological and physical wellness. You can become more alert, relaxed and lively due to an increase in the serotonin levels resulting from these types of features. Due to the negative ions it produces, an indoor wall fountain can improve your mood and also eliminate impurities in the air. They also help to eliminate allergies, pollutants as well as other types of irritants. And finally, water fountains are great at absorbing dust and microbes floating in the air and as a result in improving your overall health.The Source of Today's Outdoor Garden Fountains
The Source of Today's Outdoor Garden Fountains
Pope Nicholas V, himself a learned man, governed the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of ancient classical Greek texts into Latin. Embellishing Rome and making it the worthy capital of the Christian world was at the core of his ambitions. Reconstruction of the Acqua Vergine, a desolate Roman aqueduct which had carried fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away, began in 1453 at the bidding of the Pope. A mostra, a monumental dedicatory fountain built by ancient Romans to mark the point of entry of an aqueduct, was a practice which was revived by Nicholas V. The present-day site of the Trevi Fountain was once occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and built by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. Modifications and extensions, included in the repaired aqueduct, eventually supplied the Trevi Fountain and the well-known baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona with the necessary water supply.