Where did Large Garden Fountains Come From?
Where did Large Garden Fountains Come From? The amazing or ornamental effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to providing drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.
Pure practicality was the original role of fountains. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, from aqueducts or springs nearby. Until the late nineteenth, century most water fountains functioned using gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a supply of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to decorate living areas and celebrate the artist. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often times used by Romans to beautify their fountains. Muslims and Moorish garden 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 Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were glorified with baroque style fountains built to mark the place of entry of Roman aqueducts.
Since indoor plumbing became the norm of the day for fresh, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely decorative. Impressive water effects and recycled water were made possible by switching the power of gravity with mechanical pumps.
These days, fountains decorate public spaces and are used to honor individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
Rome’s Early Water Delivery Systems
Rome’s Early Water Delivery Systems Rome’s 1st raised aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was built in 273 BC; before that, citizens residing at higher elevations had to rely on local streams for their water. Throughout this period, there were only 2 other systems capable of providing water to elevated areas, subterranean wells and cisterns, which accumulated rainwater.
To offer water to Pincian Hill in the early sixteenth century, they applied the emerging process of redirecting the motion from the Acqua Vergine aqueduct’s underground network. As originally constructed, the aqueduct was provided along the length of its channel with pozzi (manholes) constructed at regular intervals. Though they were initially manufactured to make it possible to service the aqueduct, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi began using the manholes to accumulate water from the channel, commencing when he bought the property in 1543. Though the cardinal also had a cistern to accumulate rainwater, it couldn't provide enough water. That is when he made a decision to create an access point to the aqueduct that ran directly below his residential property.