The Beginnings of Modern Outdoor Wall Fountains

The Beginnings of Modern Outdoor Wall Fountains Hundreds of ancient Greek records were translated into Latin under the authority of the scholarly Pope Nicholas V, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455. Beginnings Modern Outdoor Wall Fountains 2967158969.jpg

Beginnings Modern Outdoor Wall Fountains 2967158969.jpg

It was important for him to beautify the city of Rome to make it worthy of being known as the capital of the Christian world. At the behest of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a damaged aqueduct which had transported clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was renovated starting in 1453. A mostra, a monumental celebratory fountain constructed by ancient Romans to mark the point of arrival of an aqueduct, was a tradition which was restored by Nicholas V. The present-day location of the Trevi Fountain was previously occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and built by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. The Trevi Fountain as well as the well-known baroque fountains found in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona were eventually supplied with water from the altered aqueduct he had reconstructed.

Early Water Supply Techniques in Rome

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Early Water Supply Techniques in Rome Prior to 273, when the first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was constructed in Rome, residents who resided on hillsides had to travel even further down to collect their water from natural sources. Outside of these aqueducts and springs, wells and rainwater-collecting cisterns were the lone technologies available at the time to supply water to segments of higher elevation. In the very early 16th century, the city began to make use of the water that ran beneath the earth through Acqua Vergine to furnish drinking water to Pincian Hill. As originally constructed, the aqueduct was provided along the length of its channel with pozzi (manholes) constructed at regular intervals. While these manholes were developed to make it easier to protect the aqueduct, it was also possible to use buckets to pull water from the channel, which was utilized by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he purchased the property in 1543 to his passing in 1552. The cistern he had constructed to obtain rainwater wasn’t adequate to meet his water demands. Thankfully, the aqueduct sat below his property, and he had a shaft opened to give him accessibility.