Where did Garden Water Fountains Come From?

Where did Garden Water Fountains Come From? The incredible architecture of a fountain allows it to provide clean water or shoot water high into air for dramatic effect and it can also serve as an excellent design feature to complete your home.

From the onset, outdoor fountains were simply meant to serve as functional elements. Residents 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. Garden Water Fountains Come From? 32696085420323.jpg Up to the late 19th century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and higher than the fountain so that gravity could make the water flow down or jet high into the air. Designers thought of fountains as amazing additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to supply clean water and honor the designer responsible for building it. Roman fountains often depicted imagery of animals or heroes made of metal or stone masks. To illustrate the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages added fountains to their designs. 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.

Urban fountains created at the end of the 19th century functioned only as decorative and celebratory adornments since indoor plumbing provided the necessary drinking water. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to enable fountains to bring in clean water and allow for beautiful water displays.

Contemporary fountains are used to adorn community spaces, honor individuals or events, and enrich recreational and entertainment events.

The Source of Modern Day Outdoor Fountains

The Source of Modern Day Outdoor Fountains Hundreds of ancient Greek texts were translated into Latin under the auspices of the scholarly Pope Nicholas V, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455. He undertook the embellishment of Rome to make it into the worthy seat of the Christian world. Restoration of the Acqua Vergine, a ruined Roman aqueduct which had transported clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away, began in 1453 at the bidding of the Pope. The ancient Roman custom of building an imposing 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 previously occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and built by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. The water which eventually furnished the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona came from the modified aqueduct which he had renovated.