Where did Large Garden Fountains Originate from?
Where did Large Garden Fountains Originate from? A fountain, an incredible piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also launch water high into the air for a noteworthy effect. Pure practicality was the original purpose of fountains. Inhabitants of urban areas, 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. Used until the 19th century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their source of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from the power of gravity. Fountains were an excellent source of water, and also served to adorn living areas and celebrate the designer. The main components used by the Romans to build their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly depicting animals or heroes. To depict the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages added fountains to their designs. King Louis XIV of France wanted to demonstrate his superiority over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. To mark the entrance of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the construction of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts entered the city of Rome
The end of the 19th century saw the rise in usage of indoor plumbing to provide drinking water, so urban fountains were relegated to purely decorative elements. The introduction of unique water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
Nowadays, fountains adorn public spaces and are used to pay tribute to individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
Rome’s Early Water Transport Systems
Rome’s Early Water Transport Systems Aqua Anio Vetus, the first raised aqueduct built in Rome, started supplying the many people living in the hills with water in 273 BC, although they had counted on natural springs up till then. If people living at higher elevations did not have accessibility to springs or the aqueduct, they’d have to rely on the other existing technologies of the time, cisterns that gathered rainwater from the sky and subterranean wells that drew the water from below ground.
From the beginning of the sixteenth century, water was routed to Pincian Hill via the underground channel of Acqua Vergine. The aqueduct’s channel was made reachable by pozzi, or manholes, that were installed along its length when it was first engineered. During the roughly nine years he possessed the residential property, from 1543 to 1552, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi employed these manholes to take water from the network in buckets, though they were actually established for the intent of cleaning and maintenance the aqueduct. He didn’t get enough water from the cistern that he had built on his property to collect rainwater. By using an orifice to the aqueduct that ran under his property, he was able to satisfy his water needs.