Ticino River
Encyclopedia
The river
Ticino is a left-bank tributary
of the Po River
. It has given its name to the Swiss canton
through which its upper portion flows.
at the frontier between the cantons of Valais
and Ticino and later flows through Lake Maggiore
, before entering Italy
. The Ticino joins the Po a few kilometres downstream (along the Ticino) from Pavia
. It is about 248 kilometres (154.1 mi) long. The highest point of the drainage basin
is the summit of Grenzgipfel
(a subpeak of Monte Rosa
), at 4618 metres (15,150.9 ft). Beneath it flows the Anza River, a right-bank tributary of the Ticino.
The river is dam
med in Switzerland in order to create hydroelectricity
, while in Italy it is primarily used for irrigation
.
, the first battle of the Second Punic War
fought between the Carthaginian
forces of Hannibal and the Romans
under Publius Cornelius Scipio
in November 218 BC
, and the first battle on Italian soil.
, culminates in Nufenen Pass
, Italian Passo della Novena, at 2478 m (8,129.9 ft) located between Pizzo Gallina
and Nufenstock. Through it runs the border between the canton
s of Valais
and Ticino
. A road constructed in 1964 goes over the pass ultimately leading to the Rhone
river valley on the other side. French is mainly spoken in Valais but near the pass German is spoken. The population of Ticino speaks Italian.
The road up the val is fairly straight until it approaches the pass, where it becomes hairpin
. On the slope below the first hairpin at about 2200 m (7,217.8 ft) is an area of springs from which the Ticino river originates. Subsequently it becomes a mountain brook flowing straight down the val to the village of All'Acqua or All'Acqua Ospizio at 1614 m (5,295.3 ft), named for the hospice
for travellers located there at the previous end of the road in former centuries. Currently it is a base for skiing and hiking. Below it is Ronco at 1487 m (4,878.6 ft) and Bedretto
at 1402 m (4,599.7 ft). The val is subject to avalanches and snow can remain on the ground as late as September.
Below Bedretto the Ri di Cristallina, "Cristallina stream", comes in from the right at Ossasco, and further down Fontana, still in Bedretto. The entire area is laced with hiking trails and mountain huts.
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
Ticino is a left-bank tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Po River
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 has given its name to the Swiss canton
Ticino
Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...
through which its upper portion flows.
The course
The river rises in the Val Bedretto in SwitzerlandSwitzerland
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....
at the frontier between the cantons of Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
and Ticino and later flows through Lake Maggiore
Lake Maggiore
Lake Maggiore is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest of Italy and largest of southern Switzerland. Lake Maggiore is the most westerly of the three great prealpine lakes of Italy, it extends for about 70 km between Locarno and Arona.The climate is mild...
, before entering 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 Ticino joins the Po a few kilometres downstream (along the Ticino) from Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
. It is about 248 kilometres (154.1 mi) 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 Grenzgipfel
Grenzgipfel
The Grenzgipfel is a subpeak of Monte Rosa, in Italy and Switzerland. In the German language the peak's name means 'frontier summit'....
(a subpeak of Monte Rosa
Monte Rosa
The Monte Rosa Massif is a mountain massif located in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps. It is located between Switzerland and Italy...
), at 4618 metres (15,150.9 ft). Beneath it flows the Anza River, a right-bank tributary of the Ticino.
The river is dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
med in Switzerland in order to create hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
, while in Italy it is primarily used for irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
.
History
Ticino was the location of the Battle of TicinusBattle of Ticinus
The Battle of Ticinus was a battle of the Second Punic War fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and the Romans under Publius Cornelius Scipio in November 218 BC. The battle took place in the flat country of Pavia county on the right bank of the Ticino River not far north from its...
, the first battle of the Second Punic War
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
fought between the Carthaginian
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
forces of Hannibal and the Romans
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
under Publius Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio
Publius Cornelius Scipio was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic.A member of the Corneliagens, Scipio served as consul in 218 BC, the first year of the Second Punic War, and sailed with an army from Pisa to Massilia , with the intention of arresting Hannibal's advance on Italy...
in November 218 BC
218 BC
Year 218 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Longus...
, and the first battle on Italian soil.
Val Bedretto
Val Bedretto, a narrow alpine valley named after the village of BedrettoBedretto
Bedretto is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.-History:In 1906 pre-Roman graves and a Roman era villa and coins were discovered in Bedretto. The presumption, that it was originally part of Airolo, could not be confirmed by any available records...
, culminates in Nufenen Pass
Nufenen Pass
Nufenen Pass is the highest mountain pass in the Swiss Alps. It lies between the summits of Pizzo Gallina and Nufenestock ....
, Italian Passo della Novena, at 2478 m (8,129.9 ft) located between Pizzo Gallina
Pizzo Gallina
Pizzo Gallina is a 3,061 metres high mountain in the Lepontine Alps, overlooking Nufenen Pass. Its summit is located on the border between the cantons of Valais and Ticino....
and Nufenstock. Through it runs the border between the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
s of Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
and Ticino
Ticino
Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...
. A road constructed in 1964 goes over the pass ultimately leading to the Rhone
Rhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
river valley on the other side. French is mainly spoken in Valais but near the pass German is spoken. The population of Ticino speaks Italian.
The road up the val is fairly straight until it approaches the pass, where it becomes hairpin
Hairpin turn
A hairpin turn , named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy...
. On the slope below the first hairpin at about 2200 m (7,217.8 ft) is an area of springs from which the Ticino river originates. Subsequently it becomes a mountain brook flowing straight down the val to the village of All'Acqua or All'Acqua Ospizio at 1614 m (5,295.3 ft), named for the hospice
Hospice (disambiguation)
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.Hospice may also refer to:* Hostel, short-term dormitory accommodations for travellers* Children's hospice...
for travellers located there at the previous end of the road in former centuries. Currently it is a base for skiing and hiking. Below it is Ronco at 1487 m (4,878.6 ft) and Bedretto
Bedretto
Bedretto is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.-History:In 1906 pre-Roman graves and a Roman era villa and coins were discovered in Bedretto. The presumption, that it was originally part of Airolo, could not be confirmed by any available records...
at 1402 m (4,599.7 ft). The val is subject to avalanches and snow can remain on the ground as late as September.
Below Bedretto the Ri di Cristallina, "Cristallina stream", comes in from the right at Ossasco, and further down Fontana, still in Bedretto. The entire area is laced with hiking trails and mountain huts.
Other
- in SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 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....
: BellinzonaBellinzonaBellinzona is the administrative capital of the canton Ticino in Switzerland. The city is famous for its three castles that have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2000....
, LocarnoLocarnoLocarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of about 15,000...
(on Lake MaggioreLake MaggioreLake Maggiore is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest of Italy and largest of southern Switzerland. Lake Maggiore is the most westerly of the three great prealpine lakes of Italy, it extends for about 70 km between Locarno and Arona.The climate is mild...
). - in ItalyItalyItaly , 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...
: StresaStresaStresa is a town and comune of about 5,000 inhabitants on the shores of the Lago Maggiore in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy; it is situated on the road and rail routes to the Simplon pass, about 90 km north-west of Milan. Since the early 20th century, the main source of income has been the...
(on Lake MaggioreLake MaggioreLake Maggiore is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest of Italy and largest of southern Switzerland. Lake Maggiore is the most westerly of the three great prealpine lakes of Italy, it extends for about 70 km between Locarno and Arona.The climate is mild...
), VigevanoVigevanoVigevano is a town and comune in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy, which possesses many artistic treasures and runs a huge industrial business. It is at the center of a district called Lomellina, a great rice-growing agricultural centre...
, PaviaPaviaPavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
.