The Merula is a stream of

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Geography

The creek is formed not far from the centre of

Testico Testico ( lij, Testego) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 217 and an area of .All ...

from the union of several streams descending the eastern slopes of Monte Torre (990 m). At first it flows down heading East and then turns South towards the

Ligurian Sea The Ligurian Sea ( it, Mar Ligure; french: Mer Ligurienne; lij, Mâ Ligure) is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera (Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient L ...

. Close to its mouth, which is located in Marina di Anrora, the Marula is crossed by Autostrada dei Fiori,

Genoa–Ventimiglia railway The Genova-Ventimiglia railway runs along the coast of the Liguria region of Italy. It was opened as a single track line between Genova and Savona in 1868, and between Savona and Ventimiglia in 1872, mostly running along a coastal corniche. The ...

and

State highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

nr.1 (''Via Aurelia''). The Merula basin (49 km2) is wholly included in the

Province of Savona The province of Savona ( it, provincia di Savona; Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a total populatio ...

Main tributaries

Right hand In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

: ** rio Moltedo ** rio Domo; * left hand: **rio Tigorella, ** rio Metta.

Nature conservation

On the mouth of the Merula was established a nature protected area of 2.6 ha managed by the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

Andora Andora ( lij, Andeua), or Marina di Andora, is a town on the Italian Riviera in the region of Liguria, included in the province of Savona. Geography and climate Andora is situated in the western part of the Italian Riviera between Capo Mele i ...

and called ''Oasi del Merula''. Even if small this nature reserve is important because is one of the few

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s available for

water bird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

s next to the Ligurian sea shore.

Geography

Main tributaries

Nature conservation

References

See also