An artificial waterfall is a water feature or fountain which imitates a natural waterfall.
Artificial waterfalls have long been featured in traditional Japanese gardens, where they can serve to highlight a scene or to provide focus. The classic gardening manual Sakuteiki, written in the mid-to-late 11th century, lists nine different types. The Cascata delle Marmore is an example of a human-made waterfall created by the ancient Romans.
The Cascata delle Marmore (Italian: [kaˈskaːta delle ˈmarmore]) or Marmore Falls is a tiered, man-made waterfall in Italy, created by the Romans in 271 BC. At 165m (541 feet) tall, it is the largest man-made waterfall in the world. It is located 7.7 km from Terni, in the region of Umbria.
The following are lists of waterfalls in the world by height, classified into two categories — natural and artificial. Natural waterfalls are further subdivided between overall height and tallest single drop. Each column (Waterfall, Height, Locality, Country) is sortable by using the up/down link in the column headings at the top of each column.
In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, jeux d'eau, pools, ponds, rills, artificial waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity, though the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon are described by Strabo as supplied by an Archimedean screw and other examples were supplied with water using hydraulic rams.
Ancient water features were powered using gravitational forces, human power or animals to pump in the water. Since the 18th century, the majority of water features have been powered by pumps. In the past, the power source was sometimes a steam engine, but in modern features it is almost always powered by electricity. There is an increasing range of innovative designs as the market becomes more established and people become more aware of alternate installation methods, such as solar power. The advantages of using solar power include environmental benefits, no electrical lines in the garden, and free energy.