Changes

Fountains were designed as part of the irrigation network for gardens, where water would be brought out of fountains and distributed to a variety of trees and plants growing in palatial gardens. Ritual washing has for thousands of years been associated with religious activity. By the Islamic period, however, fountains now were placed in public areas so that worshipers could use them to wash before entering sacred areas of mosques and performing their prayers.<ref>For more on Medieval Islamic fountains, see: Lindsay, J.E. (2008) <i>Daily life in the medieval Islamic world</i>. The Greenwood Press ‘Daily life through history’ series. Indianapolis, IN, Hackett Pub. Co, pg. 125.</ref>

By the 15th century in Europe, classical revival helped instigate interest in fountains, particularly in Rome. Public fountains were recreated, often stylized similar to Roman fountains, while pleasure gardens were created, often inspired by Roman gardens. The Medici family used fountains in Florence as symbols of their power and civic pride, where they commissioned the Fountain of Neptune in 1565 that symbolized the family's power. It was the city's first public fountain and gave it the first continually running water supply, whereas it had previously depended on cisterns or wells for its water. Both in Europe and Middle East, fountains were seen as ways for wealthy patrons or rulers to provide their cities with drinking water. Fountains, for many urban neighborhoods, became the chief water supply while also helping these wealthy or powerful patrons to be seen in more positive light, similar to how they were used in Classical Rome for their symbolic value.<ref>For more on the revival of fountains in the late Medieval and enaissance Europe, see: Dandelet, T.J. (2014) <i>The renaissance of empire in early modern Europe</i>. New York NY, Cambridge University Press, pg. 52.</ref>