| Garigliano | |
|---|---|
 The Garigliano near its mouth |
|
| Origin | near Cassino (FR) |
| Mouth | Tyrrhenian Sea near Minturno |
| Basin countries | Italy |
| Length | 38 km (158 km including the Liri) |
| Source elevation | c. 130 m |
| Mouth elevation | 0 m |
| Avg. discharge | 120 m³/s |
| Basin area | 5,020 km² |
The Garigliano is a river in central Italy.
It forms at the confluence of the rivers Gari (also known as the Rapido) and Liri. Garigliano is actually a deformation of "Gari-Lirano" (which in Italian means something like "Gari from the Liri"). In ancient times the whole course of the Liri and Gagliano was known as the Liris.
For the most part of its 40 km (25 mile) length, the Garigliano River marks the border between the Italian regions of Lazio and Campania. In medieval times, the river (then known as the Verde) marked the southern border of the Papal States.
In the ninth and early tenth centuries, a band of Arabs established themselves on the banks of the Garigliano from which they launched frequent raids on Campania and central Italy. In 915 a coalition of the pope, the Byzantines, Franks, Lombards, and Naples defeated the Garigliano Arabs.
In 1503 the River was the site of a battle in which Piero II de' Medici was drowned, passing control of the Medici family to Giovanni de' Medici, later Pope Leo X.
During World War II, the Liri-Gari-Garigliano rivers were at the centre of a system of German defensive lines (the most famous of which is the Gustav Line) around which the battle of Battle of Monte Cassino took place in 1943-44. Some witnesses say that the water of the river in the Cassino area ,during the famous Battle of Montecassino , became red because of the blood of many corps of soldiers.
From 1959 until 1982 there has been a BWR nuclear power plant named Garigliano near the town Sessa Aurunca.
Coordinates: 41°13′N 13°45′E / 41.217°N 13.75°E
|
|
Wikis
Search