When and Where Did Water Features Emerge?
When and Where Did Water Features Emerge?
Pope Nicholas V, himself a learned man, ruled the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of ancient classic Greek documents into Latin. It was important for him to embellish the city of Rome to make it worthy of being called the capital of the Christian world. Beginning in 1453, the ruined ancient Roman aqueduct known as the Aqua Vergine which had brought fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away, underwent restoration at the behest of the Pope. A mostra, a monumental commemorative fountain constructed by ancient Romans to mark the point of arrival of an aqueduct, was a tradition which was restored by Nicholas V. The architect Leon Battista Alberti was commissioned by the Pope to build a wall fountain where we now find the Trevi Fountain. The aqueduct he had reconditioned included modifications and extensions which eventually enabled it to supply water to the Trevi Fountain as well as the renowned baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona.
The Genesis Of Garden Fountains
The Genesis Of Garden Fountains The amazing or ornamental effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to supplying drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.Pure practicality was the original purpose of fountains. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with potable water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Up until the 19th century, fountains had to be higher and closer to a water supply, including aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to take advantage of gravity which fed the fountains.
Serving as an element of decoration and celebration, fountains also supplied clean, fresh drinking water. Roman fountains usually depicted imagery of animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners included fountains to create smaller depictions of the gardens of paradise. To demonstrate his dominance over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were extolled with baroque style fountains made to mark the arrival points of Roman aqueducts.
Urban fountains built at the end of the nineteenth served only as decorative and celebratory adornments since indoor plumbing provided the necessary drinking water. Impressive water effects and recycled water were made possible by replacing the force of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Modern-day fountains function mostly as decoration for public spaces, to honor individuals or events, and enhance entertainment and recreational activities.
Aqueducts: The Remedy to Rome's Water Troubles
Aqueducts: The Remedy to Rome's Water Troubles Rome’s very first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was built in 273 BC; before that, inhabitants living at higher elevations had to rely on natural streams for their water. When aqueducts or springs weren’t easily accessible, people living at raised elevations turned to water taken from underground or rainwater, which was made available by wells and cisterns. To furnish water to Pincian Hill in the early sixteenth century, they implemented the brand-new approach of redirecting the stream from the Acqua Vergine aqueduct’s underground channel. Pozzi, or manholes, were built at regular intervals along the aqueduct’s channel. During the roughly 9 years he owned the residential property, from 1543 to 1552, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi used these manholes to take water from the channel in containers, though they were previously designed for the purpose of maintaining and servicing the aqueduct. The cistern he had built to collect rainwater wasn’t satisfactory to meet his water demands. Fortunately, the aqueduct sat below his property, and he had a shaft opened to give him accessibility.