A Chronicle of Outdoor Fountains

A Chronicle of Outdoor Fountains Pope Nicholas V, himself a learned man, reigned the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of ancient classical Greek texts into Latin. It was imperative for him to beautify 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 ancient Roman aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away. Building a mostra, an imposing commemorative fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the entry point of an aqueduct, was a custom 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 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 rebuilt.

A Concise History of the Early Garden Fountains

A Concise History of the Early Garden Fountains Water fountains were originally practical in function, used to bring water from canals or creeks to towns and villages, supplying the inhabitants with clean water to drink, bathe, and prepare food with. A supply of water higher in elevation than the fountain was required to pressurize the flow and send water squirting from the fountain's spout, a technology without equal until the later half of the nineteenth century. Fountains spanning history have been designed as monuments, impressing local citizens and visitors alike. The common fountains of modern times bear little similarity to the very first water fountains. A stone basin, carved from rock, was the very first fountain, utilized for holding water for drinking and religious functions. Pure stone basins as fountains have been recovered from 2000 BC. Early fountains put to use in ancient civilizations relied on gravity to regulate the movement of water through the fountain. These ancient fountains were built to be functional, commonly situated along aqueducts, creeks and rivers to provide drinking water. Wildlife, Gods, and Spiritual figures dominated the initial decorative Roman fountains, beginning to show up in about 6 BC. Water for the community fountains of Rome was brought to the city via a elaborate system of water aqueducts.