A Chronicle of Outdoor Garden Fountains

A Chronicle of Outdoor Garden Fountains Pope Nicholas V, himself a well educated man, reigned the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of ancient classical Greek documents into Latin. He undertook the embellishment of Rome to make it into the worthy seat of the Christian world. Restoration of the Acqua Vergine, a ruined Roman aqueduct which had transported fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away, began in 1453 at the bidding of the Pope. The ancient Roman custom of marking the arrival point of an aqueduct with an magnificent celebratory fountain, also known as a mostra, was restored by Nicholas V. The Trevi Fountain now occupies the area previously filled with a wall fountain built by Leon Battista Albert, an architect commissioned by the Pope. The water which eventually supplied the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona came from the modified aqueduct which he had renovated.

Anglo Saxon Landscapes at the Time of the Norman Conquest

Anglo Saxon Landscapes at the Time of the Norman Conquest The introduction of the Normans in the 2nd half of the eleventh century irreparably altered The Anglo-Saxon lifestyle. Architecture and gardening were attributes that the Normans excelled in, trumping that of the Anglo-Saxons at the time of the occupation. But home life, household architecture, and decoration were out of the question until the Normans taken over the general population. Monasteries and castles served separate purposes, so while monasteries were enormous stone structures assembled in only the most productive, wide dales, castles were set upon blustery knolls where the occupants focused on understanding offensive and defensive tactics. The bare fortresses did not provide for the calm avocation of gardening. Berkeley Castle is perhaps the most complete model in existence nowadays of the early Anglo-Norman style of architecture. The keep is said to date from the time of William the Conqueror. A monumental terrace serves as a deterrent to intruders who would try to mine the walls of the building. On one of these terraces lies a stylish bowling green: it is coated in grass and flanked by an old yew hedge that is created into the shape of rough ramparts.