Aqueducts: The Solution to Rome's Water Troubles
Aqueducts: The Solution to Rome's Water Troubles Prior to 273, when the first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was constructed in Rome, inhabitants who dwelled on hills had to travel further down to get their water from natural sources. When aqueducts or springs weren’t available, people living at raised elevations turned to water pulled from underground or rainwater, which was made possible by wells and cisterns. To provide water to Pincian Hill in the early sixteenth century, they utilized the emerging method of redirecting the movement from the Acqua Vergine aqueduct’s underground network. The aqueduct’s channel was made attainable by pozzi, or manholes, that were situated along its length when it was 1st built. During the roughly nine years he possessed the residence, from 1543 to 1552, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi used these manholes to take water from the network in buckets, though they were originally built for the goal of maintaining and servicing the aqueduct. The cistern he had constructed to gather rainwater wasn’t sufficient to meet his water needs. To give himself with a more useful system to gather water, he had one of the manholes opened, offering him access to the aqueduct below his property.
The Genesis Of Garden Fountains
The Genesis Of Garden Fountains A fountain, an amazing 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. Pure practicality was the original role of fountains. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, from aqueducts or springs in the area. Up until the 19th century, fountains had to be more elevated and closer to a water supply, such as aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to benefit from gravity which fed the fountains. Fountains were not only used as a water source for drinking water, but also to adorn homes and celebrate the designer who created it. The main materials used by the Romans to create their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly illustrating animals or heroes. Muslims and Moorish garden designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller models of the gardens of paradise. Fountains played a considerable role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exercise his power over nature. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were extolled with baroque style fountains constructed to mark the arrival points of Roman aqueducts.
Since indoor plumbing became the norm of the day for clean, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely ornamental. Gravity was substituted by mechanical pumps in order to permit fountains to bring in clean water and allow for amazing water displays.
Modern-day fountains function mostly as decoration for community spaces, to honor individuals or events, and compliment entertainment and recreational events.