The Origins Of Garden Fountains
The Origins Of Garden Fountains The incredible construction of a fountain allows it to provide clean water or shoot water high into air for dramatic effect and it can also serve as an excellent design feature to enhance your home.The primary purpose of a fountain was originally strictly practical. Residents of cities, townships and small towns used them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash, which meant that fountains had to be connected to nearby aqueduct or spring. Up to the late 19th century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and higher than the fountain so that gravity could make the water flow down or shoot high into the air. Acting as an element of adornment and celebration, fountains also generated clean, fresh drinking water. The main materials used by the Romans to create their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly depicting animals or heroes. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to mimic the gardens of paradise.
To demonstrate his dominance over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries manufactured baroque decorative fountains to exalt the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the spot where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Urban fountains built at the end of the nineteenth served only as decorative and celebratory ornaments since indoor plumbing provided the essential drinking water. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to enable fountains to bring in clean water and allow for amazing water displays.
Nowadays, fountains decorate public areas and are used to honor individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
A Short History of the First Garden Water Fountains
A Short History of the First Garden Water Fountains Water fountains were initially practical in purpose, used to convey water from canals or springs to towns and hamlets, providing the inhabitants with clean water to drink, bathe, and cook 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 nozzle, a system without equal until the late 19th century. Inspiring and impressive, prominent water fountains have been constructed as monuments in many societies. When you enjoy a fountain today, that is certainly not what the first water fountains looked like. A stone basin, crafted from rock, was the first fountain, used for containing water for drinking and ceremonial purposes. Stone basins are theorized to have been first made use of around 2000 BC.
The jet of water appearing from small spouts was forced by gravity, the sole power source builders had in those days. Located near reservoirs or creeks, the functional public water fountains provided the local citizens with fresh drinking water. Creatures, Gods, and religious figures dominated the very early decorative Roman fountains, starting to appear in about 6 B.C.. The Romans had an intricate system of aqueducts that provided the water for the countless fountains that were placed throughout the community.