Water Features: The Minoan Culture
Water Features: The Minoan Culture During archaeological digs on the island of Crete, various kinds of conduits have been uncovered. They were used for water supply as well as removal of storm water and wastewater. The chief ingredients used were rock or terracotta. Terracotta was employed for canals and pipes, both rectangle-shaped and spherical.
There are a couple of good examples of Minoan clay conduits, those with a shortened cone form and a U-shape which have not been seen in any civilization ever since. Terracotta piping were installed below the floors at Knossos Palace and utilized to circulate water. The terracotta water lines were also utilized for accumulating and holding water. Thus, these conduits had to be able to: Underground Water Transportation: This system’s invisible nature may mean that it was initially developed for some kind of ritual or to circulate water to limited groups. Quality Water Transportation: Many scholars believe that these water lines were utilized to create a separate distribution process for the palace.
Where did Large Outdoor Fountains Originate from?
Where did Large Outdoor Fountains Originate from? A fountain, an incredible piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also launch water high into the air for a noteworthy effect.Originally, fountains only served a practical purpose. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with drinking water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Up to the late nineteenth 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 shoot high into the air. Fountains were not only utilized as a water source for drinking water, but also to adorn homes and celebrate the artist who created it. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often times utilized by Romans to decorate their fountains. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners incorporated fountains to create smaller variations of the gardens of paradise.
King Louis XIV of France wanted to illustrate his superiority over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were glorified with baroque style fountains constructed to mark the place of entry of Roman aqueducts.
Since indoor plumbing became the standard 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. Impressive water effects and recycled water were made possible by replacing the power of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Decorating city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the uses of modern-day fountains.