Where did Garden Water Fountains Originate from?
Where did Garden Water Fountains Originate from? The amazing or decorative effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, as well as providing drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property. Pure functionality was the original role of fountains. Water fountains were linked to a spring or aqueduct to provide drinkable water as well as bathing water for cities, townships and villages. Up to the late nineteenth century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and more elevated than the fountain so that gravity could make the water move downwards or shoot high into the air. Fountains were not only used as a water source for drinking water, but also to adorn homes and celebrate the artist who created it. Bronze or stone masks of wildlife and heroes were commonly seen on Roman fountains. Muslims and Moorish garden designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller models of the gardens of paradise. To demonstrate his dominance over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to extol their positions by adding beautiful baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
Since indoor plumbing became the norm of the day for clean, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely decorative. The introduction of special water effects and the recycling of water were two things made possible by replacing gravity with mechanical pumps.
These days, fountains decorate public spaces and are used to honor individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
The Origins of Contemporary Outdoor Wall Fountains
The Origins of Contemporary Outdoor Wall Fountains The translation of hundreds of classical Greek documents into Latin was commissioned by the learned Pope Nicholas V who led the Church in Rome from 1397 till 1455.
He undertook the beautification of Rome to make it into the worthy capital of the Christian world. In 1453 the Pope commissioned the repairing of the Aqua Vergine, an historic Roman aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away. The ancient Roman tradition of building an awe-inspiring commemorative fountain at the location where an aqueduct arrived, also known as a mostra, was resurrected by Nicholas V. At the behest of the Pope, architect Leon Battista Alberti undertook the construction of a wall fountain in the spot where we now find the Trevi Fountain. Changes and extensions, included in the restored aqueduct, eventually supplied the Trevi Fountain and the well-known baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona with the necessary water supply.