The Earliest Garden Water Fountains

Earliest Garden Water Fountains 69364770733.jpg

The Earliest Garden Water Fountains Water fountains were at first practical in function, used to bring water from canals or creeks to towns and villages, providing the residents with clean water to drink, wash, and cook with. In the years before electric power, the spray of fountains was powered by gravity only, commonly using an aqueduct or water source located far away in the nearby hills. Frequently used as memorials and commemorative structures, water fountains have influenced travelers from all over the world all through the centuries. The contemporary fountains of today bear little resemblance to the very first water fountains. A stone basin, crafted from rock, was the very first fountain, utilized for holding water for drinking and religious functions. The oldest stone basins are believed to be from about 2000 B.C.. The first fountains put to use in ancient civilizations depended on gravity to manipulate the movement of water through the fountain. These ancient fountains were created to be functional, usually situated along aqueducts, streams and rivers to furnish drinking water. Fountains with ornate decoration started to appear in Rome in approx. 6 B.C., normally gods and wildlife, made with stone or copper-base alloy. Water for the public fountains of Rome was brought to the city via a complicated system of water aqueducts.

Bernini’s Very First Italian Water Fountains

Bernini’s Very First Italian Water Fountains Bernini's earliest fountain, named Barcaccia, is a masterful work of art found at the bottom of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. To this day, you will find Roman residents and vacation goers filling this space to revel in chit chatter and being among other people. Bernini’s First Italian Water Fountains 150278783850020813.jpg

Bernini’s First Italian Water Fountains 150278783850020813.jpg

The streets surrounding his fountain have come to be one of the city’s most fashionable meeting places, something which would certainly have pleased Bernini himself. Dating back to around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII mandated what was to be the very first water fountain of the artist's career. An enormous ship slowly sinking into the Mediterranean is the fountain's main theme. According to 16th century reports, a great flood of the Tevere covered the entire area in water, an event which was memorialized by the magnificent fountain. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a lengthy time period, in 1665 Bernini traveled to France.