Acqua Vergine: The Solution to Rome's Water Problems
Acqua Vergine: The Solution to Rome's Water Problems Aqua Anio Vetus, the first raised aqueduct built in Rome, started out providing the individuals living in the hills with water in 273 BC, though they had depended on natural springs up until then.
Outside of these aqueducts and springs, wells and rainwater-collecting cisterns were the sole technological innovations available at the time to supply water to locations of high elevation. Beginning in the sixteenth century, a brand new strategy was introduced, using Acqua Vergine’s subterranean portions to supply water to Pincian Hill. All through the length of the aqueduct’s channel were pozzi, or manholes, that gave entry. The manholes made it less demanding to thoroughly clean the channel, but it was also possible to use buckets to pull water from the aqueduct, as we witnessed with Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi when he bought the property from 1543 to 1552, the year he died. It appears that, the rainwater cistern on his property wasn’t sufficient to meet his needs. Thankfully, the aqueduct sat directly below his property, and he had a shaft opened to give him access.
Where did Landscape Fountains Begin?
Where did Landscape Fountains Begin? A water fountain is an architectural piece that pours water into a basin or jets it high into the air in order to supply drinkable water, as well as for decorative purposes.Pure practicality was the original purpose of fountains. 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. Until the late 19th, century most water fountains functioned using gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a source of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Artists thought of fountains as amazing additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to provide clean water and honor the designer responsible for building it. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often utilized by Romans to beautify their fountains. Muslims and Moorish garden designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller models of the gardens of paradise. To show his prominence over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. To mark the entrance of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the construction of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts arrived in the city of Rome
Indoor plumbing became the main source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby restricting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to permit fountains to bring in clean water and allow for beautiful water displays.
Nowadays, fountains decorate public spaces and are used to pay tribute to individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.