A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a

water feature 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 ...

found in gardens, parks and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water with a reflective surface, undisturbed by fountain jets.

Design

Reflecting pools are often designed with the outer basin floor at the rim slightly deeper than the central area to suppress wave formation. They can be as small as a bird bath to as large as a major civic element. Their origins are from ancient Persian gardens.

List of notable pools

* The Miroir d'eau (Water mirror) on

Place de la Bourse The Place de la Bourse (, "Stock Exchange Square") is a square in Bordeaux, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include Fren ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, France. * The

Mughal garden A Mughal garden is a type of garden built by the Mughal Empire, Mughals. This style was influenced by the Persian gardens particularly the Charbagh structure, which is intended to create a representation of an earthly utopia in which humans c ...

reflecting pools at the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Chehel Sotoun Chehel Sotoun (, ) is a Persian pavilion in the middle of a park at the far end of a long pool, in Isfahan, Iran, built by Shah Abbas II to be used for his entertainment and receptions. In this palace, Shah Abbas II and his successors would re ...

in Iran * The

Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is the largest of the many reflecting pools in Washington, D.C.. It is a rectangular pool located on the National Mall, directly east of the Lincoln Memorial, with the World War II Memorial and Washington M ...

and Capitol Reflecting Pool, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

* Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones Reflection Pool,

Hermann Park Hermann Park is a urban park in Houston, Texas, situated at the southern end of the Houston Museum District, Museum District. The park is located to the immediate north end of the MD Anderson Cancer Center at Texas Medical Center and Brays Ba ...

, Houston, Texas, U.S. * The modernist

Palácio do Planalto The Palácio do Brazilian Highlands, Planalto () in Brasília is the official workplace of the president of Brazil.

and

Palácio da Alvorada The Palácio da Alvorada () is the official residence of the president of Brazil. It is located in the national capital of Brasília, on a peninsula at the margins of Paranoá Lake. The building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and built betwee ...

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

* Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

* The

Oklahoma City National Memorial The Oklahoma City National Memorial is a memorial site in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, that honors the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were affected by the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. It is situated on the form ...

, at the site of the

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, United States, on April 19, 1995. The bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. Perpetr ...

* The

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where a former reflecting pool was located in front of the stage, – 1972 * The

National September 11 Memorial & Museum The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum that are part of the World Trade Center complex, in New York City, created for remembering the September 11 attacks in 2001 which k ...

, located at the

World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as " Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, with two reflecting pools on the location where the

Twin Towers Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

stood

Gallery

File:Taj Mahal 001.jpg, The reflecting pool of the

Image:WLM14ES - Patio de los Arrayanes, Alhambra. - julianrdc.jpg, The reflecting pool in the Patio de los Arrayanes, at the Moorish

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...

of Granada, Spain Image:Chehel Sotoun 2.JPG, A World Heritage Persian garden site,

, in Iran Image:ReflectionPool UWA gobeirne.jpg, Reflecting Pool at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

File:Palacio do Planalto.jpeg, Reflecting pool of the

Palácio do Planalto The Palácio do Brazilian Highlands, Planalto () in Brasília is the official workplace of the president of Brazil.

(Planalto Palace), in Brazil's

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

capital city

Image:Water reflections of clouds in water (27327378883).jpg,

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

from the

Image:USA_09562_Boston_Luca_Galuzzi_2007.jpg, Reflecting pool at Christian Science Plaza in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Image:Hermann Park Texas.jpg, Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones Reflection Pool in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Image:12.6.11BerryBerensonPanelN-76ByLuigiNovi5.jpg, The North Reflecting Pool at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at dusk, World Trade Center, New York Image:ChristchurchArtsCentrePond gobeirne.jpg, Reflecting pond at the Christchurch Arts Centre in New Zealand

References

{{Islamic architecture Garden features Bodies of water Architectural elements Islamic architectural elements Persian gardens