River Melfa is a river of Italy that waters Lazio over a distance of about 40 km. before debouching in the Liri

Liri

The Liri is one of the principal rivers of central Italy, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea a little below Minturno under the name Garigliano....

, one of the principal rivers of central Italy

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...

.

The source of the Melfa issues from a high limestone chimney in the Valle di Canneto at an altitude of 1020 metres in the Lazio watershed of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise

Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise

Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise is an Italian national park founded in 1922. The majority of the park is located in the Abruzzo region though it is not constrained by regional boundaries and also includes territory in Lazio and Molise. The park headquarters are in Pescasseroli in the...

 beneath the Massiccio del Meta, in the territory of Settefrati

Settefrati

Settefrati is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 120 km east of Rome and about 40 km east of Frosinone.-Main sights:...

. The source has been linked in local legend and popular devotion since Antiquity. In a series of rapids and cascades, it descends the Valle di Comino, passing through Picinisco

Picinisco

Picinisco is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 120 km east of Rome and about 45 km east of Frosinone. It is included in the Valle di Comino and National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise....

, Atina

Atina

-Places:Greece*Atina, Greece, a Turkish name for the City of Athens, AtticaItaly*Atina, Lazio, a comune in the Province of Frosinone*Atina, Basilicata, an ancient town near modern Elena, BasilicataTurkey...

— where it receives the waters of the little Mollarino— Casalattico

Casalattico

Casalattico is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio. The village is located about 110 km southeast of Rome and about 30 km east of Frosinone.- Emigration to Ireland :...

 and Casalvieri

Casalvieri

Casalvieri is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 110 km southeast of Rome and about 30 km east of Frosinone...

. Below Casalvieri it passes for 15 km through a deep gorge in the foothills of Monte Cairo

Monte Cairo

Monte Cairo is a mountain located in Lazio , overshadowing both the Abbey and the town of Monte Cassino, 5 kilometres to the south.-Features:...

 at the end of which it reaches the Liri, near Roccasecca.

The Melfa is noted by Strabo

Strabo

Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...

 as a "large river" flowing near the city of Aquinum/Aquino

Aquino

Aquino is a town and comune in the province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of Italy, 12 km northwest of Cassino.-History:The ancient Aquinum was a municipium in the time of Cicero, and made a colony by the Triumviri...

. The origin of the name is obscure, perhaps to be associated with the goddess Mefitis

Mefitis

In Roman mythology, Mefitis was the personification of the poisonous gases emitted from the ground in swamps and volcanic vapors....

, worshipped in a sanctuary uncovered in 1958 at the place called Capodaqua, right below the source. Other toponyms from the same root include the locality Melfi a Pontecorvo, also near the Liri, seat of an ancient cult of John the Baptist

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...

; the city of Melfi

Melfi

Melfi is a town and comune in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata.-Geography:On a hill at the foot of Mount Vulture, Melfi is the most important town in Basilicata's Vulture, both as a tourist resort and economic centre.-Early history:Inhabited...

 and Molfetta

Molfetta

Molfetta is a city and comune of the province of Bari in the southern Italian region of Apulia, on the Adriatic coast, at sea-level. It is 25 km WNW of Bari.It has a well restored old city, and its own dialect.- History :...

, anciently Melficta; Melpum in the central Paduan plain, perhaps also Amalfi

Amalfi

Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, c. 35 km southeast of Naples. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto , surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery...

; in Lucania

Lucania

Lucania was an ancient district of southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium...

 the hydronym

Hydronym

A hydronym is a proper name of a body of water. Hydronymy is the study of hydronyms and of how bodies of water receive their names and how they are transmitted through history...

Melpes is found.