The First Modern Wall Fountains

The First Modern Wall Fountains Himself a learned man, Pope Nicholas V led the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 till 1455 and was responsible for the translation of hundreds of age-old documents from their original Greek into Latin. In order to make Rome worthy of being the capital of the Christian world, the Pope resolved to embellish the beauty of the city. At the bidding of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a damaged aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was renovated starting in 1453. A mostra, a monumental celebratory fountain built 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 directed by the Pope to build a wall fountain where we now see the Trevi Fountain. Adjustments and extensions, included in the repaired aqueduct, eventually provided the Trevi Fountain and the well-known baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona with the necessary water supply.

"Old School" Fountain Designers

Commonly serving as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and discerning scholars, all in one, fountain creators were multi-talented individuals from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century. Throughout the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci illustrated the creator as an inspired master, creator and scientific specialist. He carefully registered his findings in his now famed notebooks about his investigations into the forces of nature and the qualities and motion of water. Remodeling private villa settings into ingenious water exhibits full with symbolic interpretation and natural wonder, early Italian water fountain engineers fused curiosity with hydraulic and horticultural knowledge. The magnificence in Tivoli were developed by the humanist Pirro Ligorio, who was widely known for his skill in archeology, architecture and garden design. Masterminding the phenomenal water marbles, water features and water pranks for the assorted properties in the vicinity of Florence, other water fountain engineers were well versed in humanistic topics and time-honored technical texts.

Rome’s First Water Delivery Solutions

Rome’s First Water Delivery Solutions Aqua Anio Vetus, the first raised aqueduct assembled in Rome, started off providing the men and women living in the hills with water in 273 BC, although they had counted on natural springs up till then.

When aqueducts or springs weren’t available, people dwelling at raised elevations turned to water pulled from underground or rainwater, which was made available by wells and cisterns. In the very early sixteenth century, the city began to make use of the water that flowed below the ground through Acqua Vergine to furnish drinking water to Pincian Hill. Pozzi, or manholes, were built at regular stretches along the aqueduct’s channel. During the roughly 9 years he owned the residential property, from 1543 to 1552, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi made use of these manholes to take water from the channel in containers, though they were actually designed for the intent of maintaining and servicing the aqueduct. Although the cardinal also had a cistern to accumulate rainwater, it couldn't provide sufficient water. Fortunately, the aqueduct sat below his property, and he had a shaft opened to give him accessibility.