Our selection of the most beautiful fountains in the world
Fountains initially had the practical function of facilitating access to water, but artists and architects quickly discovered their decorative potential. All over the world, the result is splendid, original and surprising outdoor landscapes featuring fountains. Here are 5 to encourage you to go with the flow…
Fountains initially had the practical function of facilitating access to water, but artists and architects quickly discovered their decorative potential. All over the world, the result is splendid, original and surprising outdoor landscapes featuring fountains. Here are 5 to encourage you to go with the flow…
The Swarovski Fountain in Wattens, Austria
This fountain is at the entrance to Swarovski Crystal Worlds, a theme park created by the Swarovski Company in 1995 in Wattens, Austria. On a grass hillock, this landscaped garden with a fountain takes the shape of an immense head with brightly-shining eyes, covered with moss to create the illusion that it is emerging from the ground. This construction, inspired of the Moaï statues on Easter Island, was created by Austrian artist André Heller.
The Fountain of Nations at Disney World, Orlando, Florida, USA
The “Fountain of Nations” is in the middle of the Epcot theme park set at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. In 1982, the day of the opening ceremony, the representatives of 29 nations emptied jerry cans filled with water from their respective countries into this immense fountain. Today, it contains more than 550,000 litres of water and comes to life every 15 minutes to Disney film music.
The Latona fountain, Versailles, France
One of the Château de Versailles’s most impressive fountains was inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses and illustrates the legend of the mother of Apollo, the Sun God Louis XIV took as his emblem. The pool was built in 1668 but has been modified several times since. Its final shape was created by Jules Hardouin-Mansart between 1687 and 1689. He raised the centre of the fountain with a marble pyramid representing Latona and her children.
The Grand cascade and Samson fountain at Peterhof Palace, Russia
Facing Peter the Great’s imperial palace in Peterhof - a few kilometres from Saint Petersburg - a big waterfall flows down seven steps before running into the Samson fountain. This fountain, landscaped in 1730, represents the victory of Russia over Sweden during the Great Scandinavian War. The palace has 4 waterfalls and 144 fountains supplied by a reservoir 20km from the park.
The magic fountain in El Puerto, Santa Maria, Andalusia, Spain
In a completely different style, the “magic tap” located in the Cadiz Aqualand Bahia park is definitely one of the most surprising fountains in the world. Seeming to float in the air, the tap runs continuously. This one was created by French sculptor Philippe Thill but other “magic taps” exist in Belgium, Spain and Canada. The tap is in fact supported by a vertical water pipe. Water is distributed around the pipe, giving the illusion that the tap is floating in the air…
Also check out our top 6 most beautiful topiary art works!
In fact the magic behind all these outdoor landscapes with fountains is the creativity and inventiveness displayed by their landscape designers, sculptors and architects– the same creativity and inventiveness they deploy for the ecological town planning projects we wrote about recently. And they have been very successful!
