Early Water Delivery Techniques in Rome

Early Water Delivery Techniques in Rome With the manufacturing of the first raised aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, individuals who lived on the city’s hills no longer had to be dependent only on naturally-occurring spring water for their needs. Outside of these aqueducts and springs, wells and rainwater-collecting cisterns were the lone technological innovations around at the time to supply water to areas of high elevation. In the very early sixteenth century, the city began to use the water that flowed beneath the earth through Acqua Vergine to deliver drinking water to Pincian Hill. As originally constructed, the aqueduct was provided along the length of its channel with pozzi (manholes) constructed at regular intervals. During the some 9 years he owned the property, from 1543 to 1552, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi used these manholes to take water from the network in buckets, though they were initially established for the function of cleaning and servicing the aqueduct. It appears that, the rainwater cistern on his property wasn’t sufficient to satisfy his needs. To give himself with a much more useful system to assemble water, he had one of the manholes opened, giving him access to the aqueduct below his property.

Water Features Recorded by History

Water Features Recorded by History As originally conceived, fountains were crafted to be functional, directing water from streams or aqueducts to the inhabitants of towns and villages, where the water could be used for cooking, cleaning, and drinking. In the days before electric power, the spray of fountains was driven by gravity exclusively, commonly using an aqueduct or water resource located far away in the surrounding mountains. Water Features Recorded History 174756294960964011.jpg

Water Features Recorded History 174756294960964011.jpg

Fountains spanning history have been crafted as memorials, impressing local citizens and tourists alike. If you saw the earliest fountains, you wouldn't recognize them as fountains. A stone basin, carved from rock, was the very first fountain, utilized for containing water for drinking and spiritual purposes. 2,000 BC is when the earliest identified stone fountain basins were used. The force of gravity was the energy source that controlled the initial water fountains. Drinking water was provided by public fountains, long before fountains became ornate public monuments, as striking as they are functional. Fountains with embellished Gods, mythological beasts, and animals began to appear in Rome in about 6 B.C., crafted from natural stone and bronze. The extraordinary aqueducts of Rome delivered water to the eye-catching public fountains, many of which you can travel to today.