Adda River
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, a tributary of the Po
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
. It rises in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
near the border with Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and flows through Lake Como
Lake Como
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...
. The Adda joins the Po a few kilometres upstream of Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
. It is 313 kilometres long. The highest point of the drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
is the summit of la Spedla
La Spedla
La Spedla is a minor summit south of Piz Bernina on the border between Italy and Switzerland. Because of its small prominence it was included in the enlarged list of alpine four-thousanders.- External links :*...
(a subpeak of Piz Bernina
Piz Bernina
Piz Bernina is the highest mountain of the Eastern Alps and the highest point of the Bernina Range the highest peak in south Rhetic Alps. It is also the farthest easterly mountain higher than 4,000 m in the Alps, the highest point of the Swiss canton of Graubünden, and the fifth-most prominent...
), at 4,020 meters.
Towns along the river Adda include Bormio
Bormio
Bormio is a town and comune located in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. It has a population of 4,200...
, Sondrio
Sondrio
Sondrio is an Italian town and comune located in the heart of the Valtellina. Sondrio counts approximately 22,000 inhabitants and it is the administrative centre for the Lombard Province of Sondrio.- History :...
, Bellagio
Bellagio
Bellagio is a comune in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located on Lake Como. It has long been famous for its setting at the intersection of the three branches of the Y-shaped lake, which is also known as Lario....
and Lecco
Lecco
Lecco is a town of c. 47,760 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan, the capital of the province of Lecco. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como...
(both on Lake Como
Lake Como
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...
), and Lodi.
The Adda's true source is in some small lakes near the head of the Fragile glen
Glen
A glen is a valley, typically one that is long, deep, and often glacially U-shaped; or one with a watercourse running through such a valley. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower than a strath."...
, but its volume is increased by the union with several smaller streams, near the town of Bormio
Bormio
Bormio is a town and comune located in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. It has a population of 4,200...
, at the Raetian Alps. Thence it flows first southwest, then due west, through the fertile Valtellina
Valtellina
Valtellina or the Valtelline valley ; is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its skiing, its hot spring spas, its cheeses and its wines...
, passing Tirano
Tirano
Tirano is a town in Valtellina, located in the province of Sondrio, Northern Italy. It has about 9,044 inhabitants and is adjacent to the Switzerland-Italy boundary. The river Adda flows through the town....
, where the Poschiavino falls in on the right bank, and Sondrio, where is the junction with the Mallero, also on the right. It falls into the Lake of Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
, at its northern end, and mainly forms that lake. On issuing from its southeastern or Lecco arm, it crosses the plain of Lombardy where it is joined from the left by the Brembo
Brembo River
The Brembo, in Lombard Brèmb o Brèmp, is a 74 km Italian river, a left tributary of the Adda, which runs entirely within the Province of Bergamo in the Lombardy Region....
, Serio
Serio River
The Serio, in Lombard Sère, is an Italian river that flows entirely within Lombardy, crossing the provinces of Bergamo and Cremona. It is 124 kilometers long and it flows into the Adda at Bocca di Serio, to the south of Crema....
, and finally, after a course of about 240 km (150 mi), joins the Po
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
, 13 km (8 mi) above Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
.
The 1377 erected Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge
Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge
The Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge or Trezzo Bridge was a medieval bridge at Trezzo sull'Adda in Lombardy, Italy, spanning the Adda river. Completed in 1377, the single arch bridge held the record for the largest span for over four hundred years, until the beginnings of the Industrial Age, while it was...
remained with a world record span of 72 m the longest bridge arch to have been built before the introduction of metal into bridge construction. The lower course of the Adda was formerly the border between the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
and the Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
, after the Treaty of Lodi
Treaty of Lodi
The Treaty of Lodi, also known as the Peace of Lodi was a peace agreement between Milan, Naples, and Florence signed on April 9, 1454 at Lodi in Lombardy, on the banks of the Adda...
, 1454; and on its banks several important battles have been fought, notably that of Lodi
Battle of Lodi
The Battle of Lodi was fought on May 10, 1796 between French forces under General Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian rear guard led by Karl Philipp Sebottendorf at Lodi, Lombardy...
, where Napoleon defeated the Austrians in 1796; several battles have also taken place at the bridgehead of Cassano d'Adda
Cassano d'Adda
Cassano d'Adda is a town and comune in the province of Milan, Lombardy, Italy, located on the right side of the Adda River. It is on the border of the province of Milan and the province of Bergamo.-History:...
.