A temperance fountain was a fountain that was set up, usually by a private benefactor, to encourage temperance , and to make abstinence from beer possible by the provision of clean, safe, and free water. The temperance societies had no real alternative as tea and coffee were too expensive, so drinking fountains were very attractive.
86-734: A drinking fountain , also called a water fountain or water bubbler , is a fountain designed to provide drinking water . It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap . The drinker bends down to the stream of water and swallows water directly from the stream. Modern indoor drinking fountains may incorporate filters to remove impurities from the water and chillers to lower its temperature. Drinking fountains are usually found in public places, like schools, rest areas, libraries, and grocery stores. Drinking fountains are an important source of clean water in urban infrastructure. Many jurisdictions require drinking fountains to be wheelchair accessible (by sticking out horizontally from
172-402: A child; it was donated by Daniel Willis James and sculpted by Adolf Donndorf . In Washington DC "the" Temperance Fountain was donated to the city in 1882 by Temperance crusader Henry D. Cogswell . This fountain was one of a series of fountains he designed and commissioned in a belief that easy access to cool drinking water would prevent people from consuming alcohol. Under its stone canopy
258-400: A computer, for dramatic effects. Fountains can themselves also be musical instruments played by obstruction of one or more of their water jets. Drinking fountains provide clean drinking water in public buildings, parks and public spaces. Ancient civilizations built stone basins to capture and hold precious drinking water. A carved stone basin, dating to around 700 BC, was discovered in
344-423: A decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were originally purely functional, connected to springs or aqueducts and used to provide drinking water and water for bathing and washing to the residents of cities, towns and villages. Until the late 19th century most fountains operated by gravity , and needed a source of water higher than the fountain, such as a reservoir or aqueduct, to make the water flow or jet into
430-456: A difference of 130 feet (40 m) in elevation between the source and the fountain, which meant that the water from this fountain jetted sixteen feet straight up into the air from the conch shell of the triton. The Piazza Navona became a grand theater of water, with three fountains, built in a line on the site of the Stadium of Domitian . The fountains at either end are by Giacomo della Porta ;
516-588: A form of theater, with cascades and jets of water coming from marble statues of animals and mythological figures. The most famous fountains of this kind were found in the Villa d'Este (1550–1572), at Tivoli near Rome, which featured a hillside of basins, fountains and jets of water, as well as a fountain which produced music by pouring water into a chamber, forcing air into a series of flute-like pipes. The gardens also featured giochi d'acqua , water jokes, hidden fountains which suddenly soaked visitors. Between 1546 and 1549,
602-617: A fountain in the center of the cross, representing the spring or fountain, Salsabil , described in the Qur'an as the source of the rivers of Paradise. In the 9th century, the Banū Mūsā brothers, a trio of Persian Inventors , were commissioned by the Caliph of Baghdad to summarize the engineering knowledge of the ancient Greek and Roman world. They wrote a book entitled the Book of Ingenious Devices , describing
688-664: A fountain shooting a vertical jet of water for his favorite mistress, Diane de Poitiers , next to the Château de Chenonceau (1556–1559). At the royal Château de Fontainebleau , he built another fountain with a bronze statue of Diane , goddess of the hunt, modeled after Diane de Poitiers. Later, after the death of Henry II, his widow, Catherine de Medici , expelled Diane de Poitiers from Chenonceau and built her own fountain and garden there. King Henry IV of France made an important contribution to French fountains by inviting an Italian hydraulic engineer, Tommaso Francini , who had worked on
774-592: A higher source of water it was not possible to make water flow by gravity, There are lion-shaped fountains in the Temple of Dendera in Qena . The ancient Greeks used aqueducts and gravity-powered fountains to distribute water. According to ancient historians, fountains existed in Athens , Corinth , and other ancient Greek cities in the 6th century BC as the terminating points of aqueducts which brought water from springs and rivers into
860-854: A large basin, canal and marble pools. In the Ottoman Empire , rulers often built fountains next to mosques so worshippers could do their ritual washing. Examples include the Fountain of Qasim Pasha (1527), Temple Mount , Jerusalem , an ablution and drinking fountain built during the Ottoman reign of Suleiman the Magnificent ; the Fountain of Ahmed III (1728) at the Topkapı Palace , Istanbul , another Fountain of Ahmed III in Üsküdar (1729) and Tophane Fountain (1732). Palaces themselves often had small decorated fountains, which provided drinking water, cooled
946-412: A lion or the muzzle of an animal. Most Greek fountains flowed by simple gravity, but they also discovered how to use principle of a siphon to make water spout, as seen in pictures on Greek vases. The Ancient Romans built an extensive system of aqueducts from mountain rivers and lakes to provide water for the fountains and baths of Rome. The Roman engineers used lead pipes instead of bronze to distribute
SECTION 10
#17330941395931032-609: A program of aqueduct and fountain building. The city had previously gotten all its drinking water from wells and reservoirs of rain water, which meant that there was little water or water pressure to run fountains. Cosimo built an aqueduct large enough for the first continually-running fountain in Florence, the Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria (1560–1567). This fountain featured an enormous white marble statue of Neptune, resembling Cosimo, by sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati . Under
1118-492: A virus commonly known to cause diarrhea in young children, known as the rotavirus, has been found on drinking fountains in child day care facilities. Due to cases in the past where children have fallen ill due to coliform bacteria poisoning, many governments have placed strict regulations on drinking fountain designs. The vertical spout design is now illegal in most US jurisdictions. Some governments even require water spouts to be as long as four inches to meet health standards. It
1204-691: A wall fountain where the Trevi Fountain is now located. The aqueduct he restored, with modifications and extensions, eventually supplied water to the Trevi Fountain and the famous baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona . One of the first new fountains to be built in Rome during the Renaissance was the fountain in the piazza in front of the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere (1472), which
1290-557: A worthy capital of the Christian world. In 1453, he began to rebuild the Acqua Vergine , the ruined Roman aqueduct which had brought clean drinking water to the city from eight miles (13 km) away. He also decided to revive the Roman custom of marking the arrival point of an aqueduct with a mostra , a grand commemorative fountain. He commissioned the architect Leon Battista Alberti to build
1376-542: Is Oceanus , the personification of all the seas and oceans, in an oyster-shell chariot, surrounded by Tritons and Sea Nymphs . In fact, the fountain had very little water pressure, because the source of water was, like the source for the Piazza Navona fountains, the Acqua Vergine, with a 23-foot (7.0 m) drop. Salvi compensated for this problem by sinking the fountain down into the ground, and by carefully designing
1462-450: Is also recommended for young children to allow drinking fountains to run before drinking, as the water may also be contaminated with lead . This is especially common in older buildings with obsolete plumbing . In the 1970s, this fear of contamination in tap water was hyped by producers of bottled water , thereby changing attitudes to publicly provided water in drinking fountains, which began to disappear from city streets. The term bubbler
1548-470: Is another type of old drinking fountain found in Nepal. This is a stone container that can be filled with water and has a tap that can be opened and closed. The oldest of these is dated 530 AD. Very few jahrus are in use today, but the remnants can be found in many places. In mid-19th century London , when water provision from private water companies was generally inadequate for the rapidly growing population and
1634-568: Is decorated with stone carvings representing prophets and saints, allegories of the arts, labors of the months, the signs of the zodiac, and scenes from Genesis and Roman history. Medieval fountains could also provide amusement. The gardens of the Counts of Artois at the Château de Hesdin, built in 1295, contained famous fountains, called Les Merveilles de Hesdin ("The Wonders of Hesdin") which could be triggered to drench surprised visitors. Shortly after
1720-514: Is sometimes used in the Portland, Oregon , region where in the early 1900s former Wisconsin resident Simon Benson installed 20 fountains, which are now known in the Portland area as " Benson Bubblers ". Currently, there are 52 of these iconic four-bowl drinking fountains still providing free-flowing water in downtown Portland. Frost-resistant drinking fountains are used outdoors in cold climates and keep
1806-583: Is used in some regional dialects of the United States and in Australia . A survey of US dialects undertaken between 2002 and 2004 found the word bubbler is commonly used in southern and eastern Wisconsin and in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The phrase drinking fountain was common in the rest of the inland north and in the west, while water fountain dominated other parts of the country. The term bubbler
SECTION 20
#17330941395931892-544: The Alexanderplatz in Berlin (1891). The fountains of Piazza Navona had one drawback - their water came from the Acqua Vergine, which had only a 23-foot (7.0 m) drop from the source to the fountains, which meant the water could only fall or trickle downwards, not jet very high upwards. The Trevi Fountain is the largest and most spectacular of Rome's fountains, designed to glorify the three different Popes who created it. It
1978-498: The Cortile del Belvedere , was designed by Donato Bramante . The garden was decorated with the Pope's famous collection of classical statues, and with fountains. The Venetian Ambassador wrote in 1523, "... On one side of the garden is a most beautiful loggia, at one end of which is a lovely fountain that irrigates the orange trees and the rest of the garden by a little canal in the center of
2064-659: The Neptune fountain to the north, (1572) shows the God of the Sea spearing an octopus, surrounded by tritons , sea horses and mermaids . At the southern end is Il Moro, possibly also a figure of Neptune riding a fish in a conch shell. In the center is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi , (The Fountain of the Four Rivers) (1648–51), a highly theatrical fountain by Bernini, with statues representing rivers from
2150-533: The Palace of Versailles . In this garden, the fountain played a central role. He used fountains to demonstrate the power of man over nature, and to illustrate the grandeur of his rule. In the Gardens of Versailles , instead of falling naturally into a basin, water was shot into the sky, or formed into the shape of a fan or bouquet. Dancing water was combined with music and fireworks to form a grand spectacle. These fountains were
2236-636: The Piazza Barberini (1642), by Gian Lorenzo Bernini , is a masterpiece of Baroque sculpture, representing Triton , half-man and half-fish, blowing his horn to calm the waters, following a text by the Roman poet Ovid in the Metamorphoses . The Triton fountain benefited from its location in a valley, and the fact that it was fed by the Aqua Felice aqueduct, restored in 1587, which arrived in Rome at an elevation of 194 feet (59 m) above sea level (fasl),
2322-468: The temperance movement ; the same association in London drew support from temperance advocates. Many of its fountains were sited opposite public houses . The evangelical movement was encouraged to build fountains in churchyards to encourage the poor to see churches as supporting them. Many fountains have inscriptions such as "Jesus said whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again but whosoever drinketh of
2408-557: The 17th and 18th centuries marked the arrival point of restored Roman aqueducts and glorified the Popes who built them. By the end of the 19th century, as indoor plumbing became the main source of drinking water, urban fountains became purely decorative. Mechanical pumps replaced gravity and allowed fountains to recycle water and to force it high into the air. The Jet d'Eau in Lake Geneva , built in 1951, shoots water 140 metres (460 ft) in
2494-542: The 1st century BC, and in the villas of Pompeii. The Villa of Hadrian in Tivoli featured a large swimming basin with jets of water. Pliny the Younger described the banquet room of a Roman villa where a fountain began to jet water when visitors sat on a marble seat. The water flowed into a basin, where the courses of a banquet were served in floating dishes shaped like boats. Roman engineers built aqueducts and fountains throughout
2580-735: The Garden of Eden was shown with a graceful gothic fountain in the center (see illustration). The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck , finished in 1432, also shows a fountain as a feature of the adoration of the mystic lamb, a scene apparently set in Paradise. The cloister of a monastery was supposed to be a replica of the Garden of Eden, protected from the outside world. Simple fountains, called lavabos, were placed inside Medieval monasteries such as Le Thoronet Abbey in Provence and were used for ritual washing before religious services. Fountains were also found in
2666-690: The Gardens, at the intersection of the main axes of the Gardens of Versailles, is the Bassin d'Apollon (1668–71), designed by Charles Le Brun and sculpted by Jean Baptiste Tuby. This statue shows a theme also depicted in the painted decoration in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles: Apollo in his chariot about to rise from the water, announced by Tritons with seashell trumpets. Historians Mary Anne Conelli and Marilyn Symmes wrote, "Designed for dramatic effect and to flatter
Drinking fountain - Misplaced Pages Continue
2752-498: The Imperial household, baths and owners of private villas. Each of the major fountains was connected to two different aqueducts, in case one was shut down for service. The Romans were able to make fountains jet water into the air, by using the pressure of water flowing from a distant and higher source of water to create hydraulic head , or force. Illustrations of fountains in gardens spouting water are found on wall paintings in Rome from
2838-496: The Medicis, fountains were not just sources of water, but advertisements of the power and benevolence of the city's rulers. They became central elements not only of city squares, but of the new Italian Renaissance garden . The great Medici Villa at Castello, built for Cosimo by Benedetto Varchi , featured two monumental fountains on its central axis; one showing with two bronze figures representing Hercules slaying Antaeus , symbolizing
2924-589: The Middle Ages, Roman aqueducts were wrecked or fell into decay, and many fountains throughout Europe stopped working, so fountains existed mainly in art and literature, or in secluded monasteries or palace gardens. Fountains in the Middle Ages were associated with the source of life, purity, wisdom, innocence, and the Garden of Eden . In illuminated manuscripts like the Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (1411–1416) ,
3010-800: The Roman Empire. Examples can be found today in the ruins of Roman towns in Vaison-la-Romaine and Glanum in France, in Augst , Switzerland, and other sites. In Nepal there were public drinking fountains at least as early as 550 AD. They are called dhunge dharas or hitis . They consist of intricately carved stone spouts through which water flows uninterrupted from underground water sources. They are found extensively in Nepal and some of them are still operational. Construction of water conduits like hitis and dug wells are considered as pious acts in Nepal. During
3096-698: The Sultan in the gardens of Generalife in Granada (1319) featured spouts of water pouring into a basin, with channels which irrigated orange and myrtle trees. The garden was modified over the centuries – the jets of water which cross the canal today were added in the 19th century. The fountain in the Court of the Lions of the Alhambra, built from 1362 to 1391, is a large vasque mounted on twelve stone statues of lions. Water spouts upward in
3182-553: The United States following the Civil War. The National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (NWCTU)'s organizing convention of 1874 encouraged its attendees to erect the fountains in their hometowns, as a means to discourage people from drinking in saloons. They sponsored temperance fountains in towns and cities across the United States. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals , founded in 1866, expressed concern about
3268-467: The Younger , Pliny the Elder , and Varro . The treatise on architecture, De re aedificatoria , by Leon Battista Alberti , which described in detail Roman villas, gardens and fountains, became the guidebook for Renaissance builders. In Rome, Pope Nicholas V (1397–1455), himself a scholar who commissioned hundreds of translations of ancient Greek classics into Latin, decided to embellish the city and make it
3354-774: The air, and made a pleasant splashing sound. One surviving example is the Fountain of Tears (1764) at the Bakhchisarai Palace , in Crimea ; which was made famous by a poem of Alexander Pushkin . The sebil was a decorated fountain that was often the only source of water for the surrounding neighborhood. It was often commissioned as an act of Islamic piety by a rich person. In the 14th century, Italian humanist scholars began to rediscover and translate forgotten Roman texts on architecture by Vitruvius , on hydraulics by Hero of Alexandria , and descriptions of Roman gardens and fountains by Pliny
3440-451: The air, and the excess water ran back down over the sides of the nozzle. During World War I, company founder Halsey W. Taylor invented the "Double Bubbler" drinking fountain. This fountain dispensed two streams of water in an arc. Several years later the Bubbler adopted this more sanitary arc projection, which also allowed the user to drink more easily from it. At the start of the 20th century, it
3526-483: The air. In addition to providing drinking water, fountains were used for decoration and to celebrate their builders. Roman fountains were decorated with bronze or stone masks of animals or heroes. In the Middle Ages, Moorish and Muslim garden designers used fountains to create miniature versions of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France used fountains in the Gardens of Versailles to illustrate his power over nature. The baroque decorative fountains of Rome in
Drinking fountain - Misplaced Pages Continue
3612-593: The air. The highest such fountain in the world is King Fahd's Fountain in Jeddah , Saudi Arabia, which spouts water 260 metres (850 ft) above the Red Sea. Fountains are used today to decorate city parks and squares; to honor individuals or events; for recreation and for entertainment. A splash pad or spray pool allows city residents to enter, get wet and cool off in summer. The musical fountain combines moving jets of water, colored lights and recorded music, controlled by
3698-415: The atrium, or interior courtyard, with water coming from the city water supply and spouting into a small bowl or basin. Ancient Rome was a city of fountains. According to Sextus Julius Frontinus , the Roman consul who was named curator aquarum or guardian of the water of Rome in 98 AD, Rome had nine aqueducts which fed 39 monumental fountains and 591 public basins, not counting the water supplied to
3784-448: The cascade so that the water churned and tumbled, to add movement and drama. Wrote historians Maria Ann Conelli and Marilyn Symmes, "On many levels the Trevi altered the appearance, function and intent of fountains and was a watershed for future designs." Beginning in 1662, King Louis XIV of France began to build a new kind of garden, the Garden à la française , or French formal garden, at
3870-560: The cities. In the 6th century BC, the Athenian ruler Peisistratos built the main fountain of Athens, the Enneacrounos , in the Agora , or main square. It had nine large cannons, or spouts, which supplied drinking water to local residents. Greek fountains were made of stone or marble, with water flowing through bronze pipes and emerging from the mouth of a sculpted mask that represented the head of
3956-454: The construction of water conduits like dhunge dharas , dug wells and tutedharas is considered a pious act. This applies to kings and other dignitaries as well as to ordinary citizens. Fountain A fountain , from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring , is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for
4042-457: The control mechanisms below the frostline resulting in a delay for when water comes out. Most drinking fountains are freely available, however there are exceptions. Many private individuals in Armenia install pulpulaks (Armenian name for drinking fountain) in their yards or neighborhoods for various reasons, which include honoring dead relatives/friends or giving back to the community. In Nepal,
4128-759: The country to set up fine arts commissions to screen such gifts. Although the D.C. statue survived mostly unscathed, the California and Market Street, San Francisco Statue of Henry D. Cogswell and Fountain was pulled down on New Year's Eve Night of 1893-1894 by "a lynch party of self-professed art lovers" including Gelett Burgess (who was subsequently fired from his job at University of California at Berkeley ), Cogswell's 1879 Ben Franklin statue and temperance fountain in Washington Square, San Francisco remains unscathed to this day. One in Rockville, Connecticut ,
4214-400: The difficulty of finding fresh water for work horses in urban areas. Combined drinking fountains with a bubbler for people, a water trough for horses and sometimes a lower basin for dogs, became popular. In particular, over 120 National Humane Alliance fountains were donated to communities across the United States between 1903 and 1913. The original 'Bubbler' shot water one inch straight into
4300-527: The enclosed medieval jardins d'amour , "gardens of courtly love" – ornamental gardens used for courtship and relaxation. The medieval romance The Roman de la Rose describes a fountain in the center of an enclosed garden, feeding small streams bordered by flowers and fresh herbs. Some Medieval fountains, like the cathedrals of their time, illustrated biblical stories, local history and the virtues of their time. The Fontana Maggiore in Perugia , dedicated in 1278,
4386-573: The fountains in their hometowns. The NWCTU advocated the fountains as a means to discourage people from entering saloons for refreshment. The NWCTU sponsored temperance fountains in towns and cities across the United States. Cast-stone statues of Hebe were marketed for use in temperance fountains. In New York City, the James Fountain in Union Square Park is a Temperance fountain with the figure of Charity who empties her jug of water, aided by
SECTION 50
#17330941395934472-520: The fountains of the villa at Pratalino, to make fountains in France. Francini became a French citizen in 1600, built the Medici Fountain, and during the rule of the young King Louis XIII , he was raised to the position of Intendant général des Eaux et Fontaines of the king, a position which was hereditary. His descendants became the royal fountain designers for Louis XIII and for Louis XIV at Versailles . In 1630, another Medici, Marie de Medici ,
4558-567: The four continents; the Nile , Danube , Plate River and Ganges . Over the whole structure is a 54-foot (16 m) Egyptian obelisk , crowned by a cross with the emblem of the Pamphili family, representing Pope Innocent X , whose family palace was on the piazza. The theme of a fountain with statues symbolizing great rivers was later used in the Place de la Concorde (1836–40) and in the Fountain of Neptune in
4644-438: The ice in a reservoir beneath the base and disconnected the supply pipes. Other Cogswell fountains include one still standing in New York City's Tompkins Square Park, and one in downtown Pawtucket, Rhode Island (1880). These grandiose statues were not all well received by the communities where they were placed. Washington, DC's Temperance Fountain has been called "the city's ugliest statue" and spurred city councils across
4730-405: The king, the fountain is oriented so that the Sun God rises from the west and travels east toward the chateau, in contradiction to nature." Besides these two monumental fountains, the Gardens over the years contained dozens of other fountains, including thirty-nine animal fountains in the labyrinth depicting the fables of Jean de La Fontaine . There were so many fountains at Versailles that it
4816-422: The kings of the Artuqid dynasty in Turkey commissioned him to manufacture a machine to raise water for their palaces. The finest result was a machine called the double-acting reciprocating piston pump , which translated rotary motion to reciprocating motion via the crankshaft - connecting rod mechanism. The palaces of Moorish Spain, particularly the Alhambra in Granada, had famous fountains. The patio of
4902-430: The loggia ... The original garden was split in two by the construction of the Vatican Library in the 16th century, but a new fountain by Carlo Maderno was built in the Cortile del Belvedere, with a jet of water shooting up from a circular stone bowl on an octagonal pedestal in a large basin. In 1537, in Florence , Cosimo I de' Medici , who had become ruler of the city at the age of only 17, also decided to launch
4988-416: The merchants of Paris built the first Renaissance-style fountain in Paris, the Fontaine des Innocents , to commemorate the ceremonial entry of the King into the city. The fountain, which originally stood against the wall of the church of the Holy Innocents, as rebuilt several times and now stands in a square near Les Halles . It is the oldest fountain in Paris. Henry constructed an Italian-style garden with
5074-577: The middle of the day. In 1912, Benson gave the City of Portland USD $ 10,000 for the installation of 20 bronze drinking fountains. As of March 2014, these fountains, known as "Benson Bubblers" , remain functional in downtown Portland. The provision of drinking fountains in the United Kingdom was also linked to the temperance movement in the United Kingdom , with the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association in London drawing support from temperance advocates. Many of its fountains were sited opposite public houses . The evangelical movement
5160-443: The money from an inheritance to fund the construction of 50 drinking fountains (ever after known as ‘ Wallace fountains ’). Designed by Charles-Auguste Lebourg with four caryatids atop a green cylindrical base, these fountains have become iconic symbols of Paris. Muddied and bad tasting drinking water encouraged many Americans to drink alcohol for health purposes, so temperance groups constructed public drinking fountains throughout
5246-526: The new Baroque art, which was officially promoted by the Catholic Church as a way to win popular support against the Protestant Reformation ; the Council of Trent had declared in the 16th century that the Church should counter austere Protestantism with art that was lavish, animated and emotional. The fountains of Rome, like the paintings of Rubens , were examples of the principles of Baroque art. They were crowded with allegorical figures, and filled with emotion and movement. In these fountains, sculpture became
SECTION 60
#17330941395935332-407: The principal element, and the water was used simply to animate and decorate the sculptures. They, like baroque gardens, were "a visual representation of confidence and power." The first of the Fountains of St. Peter's Square , by Carlo Maderno , (1614) was one of the earliest Baroque fountains in Rome, made to complement the lavish Baroque façade he designed for St. Peter's Basilica behind it. It
5418-424: The ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Lagash in modern Iraq . The ancient Assyrians constructed a series of basins in the gorge of the Comel River, carved in solid rock, connected by small channels, descending to a stream. The lowest basin was decorated with carved reliefs of two lions. The ancient Egyptians had ingenious systems for hoisting water up from the Nile for drinking and irrigation, but without
5504-406: The spread of Islam, the Arabs incorporated into their city planning the famous Islamic gardens . Islamic gardens after the 7th century were traditionally enclosed by walls and were designed to represent paradise . The paradise gardens , were laid out in the form of a cross, with four channels representing the rivers of Paradise , dividing the four parts of the world. Water sometimes spouted from
5590-449: The story of how the peasants of Lycia tormented Latona and her children, Diana and Apollo , and were punished by being turned into frogs. This was a reminder of how French peasants had abused Louis's mother, Anne of Austria , during the uprising called the Fronde in the 1650s. When the fountain is turned on, sprays of water pour down on the peasants, who are frenzied as they are transformed into creatures. The other centerpiece of
5676-466: The syphon (called shotor-gelu in Persian, literally 'neck of the camel) to create fountains which spouted water or made it resemble a bubbling spring. The garden of Fin , near Kashan, used 171 spouts connected to pipes to create a fountain called the Howz-e jush , or "boiling basin". The 11th century Persian poet Azraqi described a Persian fountain: Reciprocating motion was first described in 1206 by Arab Muslim engineer and inventor al-Jazari when
5762-501: The vasque and pours from the mouths of the lions, filling four channels dividing the courtyard into quadrants. The basin dates to the 14th century, but the lions spouting water are believed to be older, dating to the 11th century. The design of the Islamic garden spread throughout the Islamic world, from Moorish Spain to the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent . The Shalimar Gardens built by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1641, were said to be ornamented with 410 fountains, which fed into
5848-427: The victory of Cosimo over his enemies; and a second fountain, in the middle of a circular labyrinth of cypresses, laurel, myrtle and roses, had a bronze statue by Giambologna which showed the goddess Venus wringing her hair. The planet Venus was governed by Capricorn , which was the emblem of Cosimo; the fountain symbolized that he was the absolute master of Florence. By the middle Renaissance, fountains had become
5934-865: The wall), and to include an additional unit of a lower height for children and short adults. The design that this replaced often had one spout atop a refrigeration unit. Before potable water was provided in private homes, water for drinking was made available to citizens of cities through access to public fountains. Many of these early public drinking fountains can still be seen (and used) in cities such as Rome, with its many fontanelle and nasoni (big noses). In Nepal there were public drinking fountains at least as early as 550 AD. They are called dhunge dharas or hitis . They consist of carved stone spouts through which water flows uninterrupted from underground sources. They are found extensively in Nepal and some of them are still operational. Many people of Nepal rely on them for their daily water supply. The tutedhara or jahru
6020-473: The water I shall give him shall never thirst". By 1877, the association was widely accepted and Queen Victoria donated money for a fountain in Esher . Many fountains, within London and outside, were called temperance fountains or would have a representation of the Greek mythical figure Temperance . After many of the aqueducts were destroyed after the siege of Paris in the 1870s, the Parisian poor had no access to fresh water. Richard Wallace, an Englishman, used
6106-408: The water supply was never enough. Temperance fountain Muddied and bad tasting drinking water encouraged many Americans to drink alcohol for health purposes, so temperance groups constructed public drinking fountains throughout the United States following the Civil War . The National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (NWCTU)'s organizing convention of 1874 encouraged its attendees to erect
6192-401: The water throughout the city. The excavations at Pompeii , which revealed the city as it was when it was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, uncovered free-standing fountains and basins placed at intervals along city streets, fed by siphoning water upwards from lead pipes under the street. The excavations of Pompeii also showed that the homes of wealthy Romans often had a small fountain in
6278-639: The widow of Henry IV, built her own monumental fountain in Paris, the Medici Fountain , in the garden of the Palais du Luxembourg . That fountain still exists today, with a long basin of water and statues added in 1866. The 17th and 18th centuries were a golden age for fountains in Rome, which began with the reconstruction of ruined Roman aqueducts and the construction by the Popes of mostra , or display fountains, to mark their termini. The new fountains were expressions of
6364-412: The words "Faith," "Hope," "Charity," and "Temperance" are chiseled. Atop this canopy is a life-sized heron , and the centerpiece is a pair of entwined heraldic scaly dolphins . Originally, visitors were supposed to freely drink ice water flowing from the dolphins' snouts with a brass cup attached to the fountain and the overflow was collected by a trough for horses , but the city tired of replenishing
6450-553: The work of the descendants of Tommaso Francini , the Italian hydraulic engineer who had come to France during the time of Henry IV and built the Medici Fountain and the Fountain of Diana at Fontainebleau . Two fountains were the centerpieces of the Gardens of Versailles, both taken from the myths about Apollo, the sun god, the emblem of Louis XIV, and both symbolizing his power. The Fontaine Latone (1668–70) designed by André Le Nôtre and sculpted by Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, represents
6536-422: The works of the 1st century Greek Engineer Hero of Alexandria and other engineers, plus many of their own inventions. They described fountains which formed water into different shapes and a wind-powered water pump, but it is not known if any of their fountains were ever actually built. The Persian rulers of the Middle Ages had elaborate water distribution systems and fountains in their palaces and gardens. Water
6622-406: Was built beginning in 1730 at the terminus of the reconstructed Acqua Vergine aqueduct, on the site of Renaissance fountain by Leon Battista Alberti . It was the work of architect Nicola Salvi and the successive project of Pope Clement XII , Pope Benedict XIV and Pope Clement XIII , whose emblems and inscriptions are carried on the attic story, entablature and central niche. The central figure
6708-485: Was built on Holborn Hill on the railings of the church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate on Snow Hill, paid for by Samuel Gurney, and opened on 21 April 1859. The fountain became immediately popular, and was used by 7,000 people a day. In the next six years 85 fountains were built, with much of the funding coming directly from the association. The provision of drinking fountains in the United Kingdom soon became linked to
6794-401: Was carried by a pipe into the palace from a source at a higher elevation. Once inside the palace or garden it came up through a small hole in a marble or stone ornament and poured into a basin or garden channels. The gardens of Pasargades had a system of canals which flowed from basin to basin, both watering the garden and making a pleasant sound. The Persian engineers also used the principle of
6880-639: Was discovered that the original vertical design was related to the spread of contagious diseases . In the United States, segregation of public facilities including but not limited to water fountains due to race, color, religion, or national origin was abolished by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . Prior to this, racially segregated water fountains with those for black people in worse condition than those for white people were common. In recent studies, it has been found that some drinking fountains have been contaminated with pathogens such as bacteria . In one study,
6966-531: Was encouraged to build fountains in churchyards to encourage the poor to see churches as supporting them. Many fountains have inscriptions such as "Jesus said whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again but whosoever drinketh of the water I shall give him shall never thirst". By 1877, the association was widely accepted and Queen Victoria donated money for a fountain in Esher . Many fountains, within London and outside, were called temperance fountains or would have
7052-573: Was fed by water from the Paola aqueduct, restored in 1612, whose source was 266 feet (81 m) above sea level, which meant it could shoot water twenty feet up from the fountain. Its form, with a large circular vasque on a pedestal pouring water into a basin and an inverted vasque above it spouting water, was imitated two centuries later in the Fountains of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The Triton Fountain in
7138-582: Was impossible to have them all running at once; when Louis XIV made his promenades, his fountain-tenders turned on the fountains ahead of him and turned off those behind him. Louis built an enormous pumping station, the Machine de Marly , with fourteen water wheels and 253 pumps to raise the water three hundred feet from the River Seine , and even attempted to divert the River Eure to provide water for his fountains, but
7224-609: Was often contaminated, a new law created the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers , made water filtration compulsory, and moved water intakes on the Thames above the sewage outlets. In this context, the public drinking fountain movement began. It built the first public baths and public drinking fountains. In 1859 the Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association was established. The first fountain
7310-406: Was placed on the site of an earlier Roman fountain. Its design, based on an earlier Roman model, with a circular vasque on a pedestal pouring water into a basin below, became the model for many other fountains in Rome, and eventually for fountains in other cities, from Paris to London. In 1503, Pope Julius II decided to recreate a classical pleasure garden in the same place. The new garden, called
7396-499: Was thrown into Shenipsic Lake. In Dubuque, Iowa , a statue of Cogswell in Washington Park was pulled down by a group of vandals in 1900 and buried under the ground of a planned sidewalk. The next day the sidewalk was poured and the object was entombed. When new sidewalks were recently laid, the statue was not found. Simon Benson , an Oregon lumberman, was a teetotaler who wanted to discourage his workers from drinking alcohol in
#592407