The National Mall in Southwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
The Fountain Garden
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), October 24, 2021
1. The Fountain Garden Marker
Inscription.
The Fountain Garden is modeled after the Court of the Lions at the Alhambra, a 14th-century Moorish palace and fortress in Granada, Spain, now included on UNESCO's World Heritage List. (Moor is a general term for North African Muslims who conquered Spain in the 8th century.) The legendary Court features a chahar "four gardens", pattern of four quadrants formed by water channels that meet at a central fountain. ⬥ The Fountain Garden suggests a walled paradise, an important concept in early Persian and Islamic garden design. Water channels on top of the low walls around the central fountain represent the four rivers of paradise (water, wine, honey, milk), while the bubbling center jet symbolizes eternity. At the garden's north end, a "veil" of water cascades down a carved stone wall.
The Fountain Garden is modeled after the Court of the Lions at the Alhambra, a 14th-century Moorish palace and fortress in Granada, Spain, now included on UNESCO's World Heritage List. (Moor is a general term for North African Muslims who conquered Spain in the 8th century.) The legendary Court features a chahar "four gardens"pattern of four quadrants formed by water channels that meet at a central fountain. ⬥ The Fountain Garden suggests a walled paradise, an important concept in early Persian and Islamic garden design. Water channels on top of the low walls around the central fountain represent the four rivers of paradise (water, wine, honey, milk), while the bubbling center jet symbolizes eternity. At the garden's north end, a "veil" of water cascades down a carved stone wall.
Erected by Smithsonian Gardens, Smithsonian Institution.
Location. 38° 53.298′ N, 77° 1.53′ W. Marker is in Southwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It is in The National Mall. It can be reached from Independence Avenue Southwest just east
Click or scan to see this page online
of 12th Street Southwest, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 950 Independence Ave SW, Washington DC 20560, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American Northeast, in the Upper South, in the Mid-Atlantic, in the Tidewater, and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere.
Additional keywords. landscape architecture; Medieval Europe; Islamic Europe
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), October 24, 2021
2. The Fountain Garden Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 24, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 276 times since then and 24 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on October 24, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
