The Origins Of Garden Fountains
The Origins Of Garden Fountains
Pure practicality was the original role of fountains. Inhabitants of cities, townships and small towns utilized them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash, which meant that fountains had to be linked to nearby aqueduct or spring. Used until the nineteenth century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their source of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from gravity. Serving as an element of adornment and celebration, fountains also supplied clean, fresh drinking water. Roman fountains usually depicted images of animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to mimic the gardens of paradise. To show his prominence over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. To mark the entrance of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the building of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts arrived in the city of Rome
Indoor plumbing became the key source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby limiting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. The creation of special water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by replacing gravity with mechanical pumps.
Beautifying city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the functions of modern-day fountains.
The Earliest Fountains
The Earliest Fountains