Aleppo: Fountain Workers  

Date: c.1671

Venetian traveller Ambrosio Bembo noted that there are specialized workers in each quarter of the city who renew the water in the fountains several times a week, and in houses of noblemen and military commanders they were consistently renewing water daily. In some private houses, fountains are kept running all day. These are busy workers as they also maintain public fountains, mosque water systems, as well as bathhouses. Bembo also notes that the people of Bembo bath frequently and contribute to the lack of syphilis found in the city.

Citation: Ambrosio Bembo. The Travels and Journal of Ambrosio Bembo. Trans. Clara Bargellini. Ed. Anthony Welch. Berkeley, CA: U of California P, 2007: p.69