Many millennia ago, humanity learned to extract and use fire. It was prepared for food, he warmed a man on cold days, served as a protection from wild animals. Even in the time of Neolithic, the first similarities of the furnaces appeared, these were the most primitive foci surrounded by a stone frame. In order not to suffocate from smoke in the ceiling, a special hole was made.
But time passed, the design of the hearth was improved and the design. For diverting smoke, they began to use the stone chimneys handed manually. In ancient Rome, with the help of smoke passing through special moves in the floor, entire palaces were heated. Later the stoves began to be transferred from the center of the dwelling to its walls.
The era of the Middle Ages.
In those times, the stoves – fireplaces were laid out of the cramped natural stone. Later, instead of stone, they began to use brick, which positively affected the characteristics of such fireplaces. Evolved their constructions. The sizes of both the fireplaces themselves and the chimneys have increased. To the main functions: cooking and heating of housing and aesthetic. Fireplaces began to enjoy honor and respect. They emphasized the welfare of their owners. A room with a fireplace in rich houses began to be called a “fireplace hall”. Some representatives of the fireplace family amazed in their size, in some of them it was easily frying a spit of a whole bull carrier.
Renaissance.
In the eighteenth century, fireplaces became one of the important components of the home interior. Due to their rather large sizes, they acquired the form of small architectural structures. In the Renaissance on the creation of some fireplaces, many famous artists began to work. With their help, fireplaces began to take the form of real works of art. They were decorated with a variety of pilasters, columns, Florentine mosaic, artistic carvings on stone. The cladding of such a fireplace was made of marble or granite. Each nation had its own characteristics in the construction and decoration of fireplaces.
For example: in India, decorate the walls at the hearth with a rather unusual ornament, from small mirrors glued to thick paper, which reflects fiery glare.
And in our age of high technology, the fireplace did not become archaism. On the contrary, it remains a symbol of home comfort and peace.