Find Tranquility with Outdoor Water Features
Find Tranquility with Outdoor Water Features
Modern Garden Decoration: Fountains and their Beginnings

Pure practicality was the original purpose of fountains. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to provide them with drinking water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Up until the nineteenth, fountains had to be more elevated and closer to a water supply, such as aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to take advantage of gravity which fed the fountains. Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to decorate living areas and memorialize the designer. The main components used by the Romans to create their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly depicting animals or heroes. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to re-create the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to illustrate his superiority over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to exalt their positions by adding decorative baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
Urban fountains created at the end of the nineteenth functioned only as decorative and celebratory adornments since indoor plumbing provided the necessary drinking water. The introduction of unique water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
Modern fountains are used to embellish public spaces, honor individuals or events, and enhance recreational and entertainment events.