Where did Garden Water Fountains Come From?

Pure practicality was the original role of fountains. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to provide them with potable water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Used until the nineteenth century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their origin of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from the power of gravity. Artists thought of fountains as amazing additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to provide clean water and celebrate the artist responsible for creating it. Bronze or stone masks of wildlife and heroes were commonly seen on Roman fountains. Muslims and Moorish landscaping designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller versions of the gardens of paradise. The fountains found in the Gardens of Versailles were meant to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries manufactured baroque decorative fountains to glorify the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the spot where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Indoor plumbing became the main source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby restricting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. Amazing water effects and recycled water were made possible by replacing the power of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Contemporary fountains are used to adorn community spaces, honor individuals or events, and enhance recreational and entertainment events.
Did You Know How Mechanical Concepts of Water Fountains Became Known?
Did You Know How Mechanical Concepts of Water Fountains Became Known? The published reports and illustrated publications of the day contributed to the development of scientific innovation, and were the chief means of transmitting practical hydraulic information and water fountain ideas throughout Europe. An un-named French water feature designer was an internationally renowned hydraulic innovator in the late 1500's. His experience in making landscapes and grottoes with incorporated and ingenious water attributes began in Italy and with mandates in Brussels, London and Germany. The book, “The Principles of Moving Forces,” penned near the end of his lifetime in France, turned out to be the definitive writing on hydraulic mechanics and engineering. Updating vital hydraulic breakthroughs of classical antiquity, the book also explains modern hydraulic technologies. Notable among these works were those of Archimedes, the creator of the water screw, a mechanized means of moving water.
Cultural Statues in Early Greece
Cultural Statues in Early Greece
Historic Crete & The Minoans: Wall Fountains
