Early Water Delivery Solutions in Rome

Early Water Delivery Solutions in Rome With the manufacturing of the 1st elevated aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, individuals who lived on the city’s foothills no longer had to depend solely on naturally-occurring spring water for their demands. When aqueducts or springs weren’t available, people living at raised elevations turned to water pulled from underground or rainwater, which was made available by wells and cisterns. Beginning in the sixteenth century, a newer approach was introduced, using Acqua Vergine’s subterranean sections to generate water to Pincian Hill. Pozzi, or manholes, were made at regular intervals along the aqueduct’s channel. Whilst these manholes were provided to make it less difficult to manage the aqueduct, it was also feasible to use buckets to remove water from the channel, which was carried out by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he invested in the property in 1543 to his death in 1552. Though the cardinal also had a cistern to amass rainwater, it couldn't supply enough water. That is when he made a decision to create an access point to the aqueduct that ran underneath his residential property.

The Origins of Contemporary Outdoor Wall Fountains

The Origins of Contemporary Outdoor Wall Fountains Pope Nicholas V, himself a learned man, ruled the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of old classical Greek documents into Latin. In order to make Rome worthy of being the capital of the Christian world, the Pope decided to enhance the beauty of the city. Starting 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 repair at the bidding of the Pope. The ancient Roman custom of building an awe-inspiring commemorative fountain at the point where an aqueduct arrived, also known as a mostra, was restored by Nicholas V. The present-day site of the Trevi Fountain was once occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and built by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. The water which eventually provided the Trevi Fountain as well as the renown baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona came from the modified aqueduct which he had renovated.