In Istanbul, which had been the capital of Ottoman Empire for four hundred years, there are 1100 fountains today.

Nowadays most of these fountains are in bad condition. Some of the taps and the inscriptions of these fountains were vandalized, some fountains were left without water and their basins were destroyed, posters and ads were stuck on most of them and some of them are totally destroyed. Unfortunately, the renovated ones which still exist are facing the danger of being damaged.

Why doesn’t anyone take care of these fountains? This question took us why those fountains were built and they lost their need in usage. For this reason we have started to research why Ottomans built the fountains.

At the end of the 1800s when the French companies started to bring spring water to our homes, fountains started to loose their popularity and importance. After 1950s the increase in population and constructions of buildings led to the damage in the flow of spring water. The environmental pollution and the wastes in countries in 1970s and 1980s made the water undrinkable. Also the draught which started in 1990s dried the water springs totally.

This is how fountains came to this point. Fountains are important parts of our culture. We believe that we need to preserve the fountains of Istanbul because of their artistic and esthetic impact which add a lot to our culture.