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70-473: The fountain was executed in travertine in 1642–43. Pope Urban VIII wanted a public ornament for the city and also a utility service to place in the center of the square dominated by his family's brand-new palace. At its centre rises a larger than lifesize muscular Triton , a minor sea god of ancient Greco-Roman legend, depicted as a merman kneeling on a large shell, from which the Triton rises. His head

140-461: 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 ;

210-592: 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,

280-628: 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

350-669: 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

420-604: 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

490-877: 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

560-412: 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

630-618: 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

700-721: 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

770-573: 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

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840-556: 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

910-577: 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

980-514: Is thrown back and his arms raise a conch to his lips; from it a jet of water spurts, formerly rising dramatically higher than it does today. The fountain has a base of four dolphins that entwine the papal tiara with crossed keys and the heraldic Barberini bees in their scaly tails. The Tritone , the first of Bernini's free-standing urban fountains, was erected to provide water from the Acqua Felice aqueduct which Urban had restored. It

1050-555: 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

1120-507: 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

1190-681: 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

1260-542: 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

1330-657: 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),

1400-459: The Rhône , it is visible throughout the city and from the air, even when flying over Geneva at an altitude of ten kilometres (33,000 ft). Five hundred litres (130 US gal) of water per second are jetted to an altitude of 140 metres (460 ft) by two 500 kW pumps, operating at 2,400 V, consuming one megawatt of electricity and costing 510,000 CHF per year. The water leaves

1470-606: The Usine de la Coulouvrenière , a little further downstream from its present location. It was used as a safety valve for a hydraulic power network and could reach a height of about 30 metres (100 ft). In 1891, its aesthetic value was recognised and it was moved to its present location to celebrate the Federal Gymnastics Festival and the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation , when it

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1540-551: 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

1610-749: 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

1680-707: 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

1750-503: 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

1820-501: 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

1890-519: 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 the 17th and 18th centuries marked the arrival point of restored Roman aqueducts and glorified the Popes who built them. By

1960-547: 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) ,

2030-782: 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 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,

2100-874: 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

2170-720: 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

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2240-471: 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

2310-792: 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

2380-415: 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

2450-452: 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

2520-575: 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

2590-532: 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,

2660-591: 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 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

2730-489: The fountain) will have guaranteed their return to Rome. The setting of the Piazza Barberini has changed significantly since the seventeenth century. Engravings of the time and photographs from the nineteenth century show much lower buildings around the piazza, which would have made the fountain much more dramatic. However, it is a tribute to the artistic judgement of Bernini that even now, with tall buildings around

2800-527: 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 ,

2870-580: 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

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2940-460: 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

3010-584: 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

3080-605: 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

3150-638: 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

3220-526: 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

3290-407: 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

3360-438: 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 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

3430-406: 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

3500-449: 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

3570-466: 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

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3640-419: The ten-centimetre (4 in) nozzle at a speed of 200 km/h (55 m/s). At any given moment, there are about 7,000 L (1,800 US gal) of water in the air. Unsuspecting visitors to the fountain—which can be reached via a stone jetty from the left bank of the lake—may be surprised to find themselves drenched after a slight change in wind direction. The first Jet d'Eau was installed in 1886 at

3710-408: The time of the First War of Castro . Matthew K. Averett sees a political statement in their construction: as Urban restoring peace after an unfortunate but necessary conflict. The Triton Fountain is one of those evoked in Ottorino Respighi 's Fontane di Roma . The legend applied to Trevi Fountain has been extended to this: that any visitor who throws a coin into the water (while facing away from

3780-502: The traffic-ridden piazza, that the Triton Fountain can still maintain a dramatic presence. 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 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

3850-459: The triumphant passage from Ovid 's Metamorphoses book I, evoking godlike control over the waters and describing the draining away of the Universal Deluge . The passage that Urban set Bernini to illustrate, was well known to all literate Roman contemporaries: The following year, Bernini sculpted the Fontana delle Api (Fountain of the Bees), a watering trough where the Via Veneto enters the Piazza Barberini. Both fountains were constructed around

3920-501: 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

3990-427: 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

4060-416: The water supply was never enough. Jet d%27Eau The Jet d'Eau ( French pronunciation: [ʒɛ do] , Water-Jet ) is a large fountain in Geneva , Switzerland and is one of the city's most famous landmarks, being featured on the city's official tourism web site and on the official logo for Geneva's hosting of group stage matches at UEFA Euro 2008 . Situated where Lake Geneva exits as

4130-401: 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

4200-486: 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

4270-503: 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

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4340-422: 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

4410-404: Was Bernini's last major commission from his great patron who died in 1644. At the Triton Fountain, Urban and Bernini brought the idea of a sculptural fountain, familiar from villa gardens, decisively to a public urban setting for the first time; previous public fountains in the city of Rome had been passive basins for the reception of public water. Bernini has represented the triton to illustrate

4480-406: 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

4550-401: 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

4620-442: Was discovered in 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

4690-426: 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

4760-427: 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

4830-409: Was operated for the first time. Its maximum height was about 90 metres (300 ft). The present Jet d'Eau was installed in 1951 in a partially submerged pumping station to pump lake water instead of city water. Since 2003, the fountain has operated during the day all year round, except in case of frost or particularly strong wind. It also operates in the evenings between spring and autumn, when it

4900-406: 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

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