The Metauro is a river in the
Marche
Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...
region of central
Italy. It rises in the
Apennine Mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...
and runs east for or if the Meta is included as its uppermost reach.
The name of the river in
Latin is ''Metaurus'' or ''Mataurus.'' In
Ancient Greek, the name of the river is ''Métauros'', ''
Μέταυρος'' which stems simply from the union of the two torrents: Meta, running from the Apennine pass Bocca Trabaria, at an elevation of , and Auro, flowing from Monte Maggiore, at an elevation of .
The source of the river is located near
Monte dei Frati in the border region between the provinces of
Pesaro e Urbino
The Province of Pesaro and Urbino ( it, Provincia di Pesaro e Urbino, ) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pesaro. It also borders the state of San Marino. The province is surrounded by San Marino and Emili ...
,
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
and
Perugia.
It flows east through Pesaro e Urbino near
Mercatello sul Metauro,
Sant'Angelo in Vado (where the river forms the Cascata del Sasso, "Waterfall of the Stone"),
Urbania,
Fermignano
Fermignano ( Romagnol: ''Fermignèn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche, located about west of Ancona and about southwest of Pesaro.
Renaissance architect Donato Bramante was born her ...
,
Fossombrone (in whose territory it receives the waters of the
Candigliano), and, after flowing into a tight valley, the
Gola del Furlo,
Montemaggiore al Metauro, from which it starts to flow in a plain area. The river flows northeast near Calcinelli,
Saltara, Lucrezia,
Cartoceto
Cartoceto is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche, located about northwest of Ancona and about south of Pesaro.
Twin towns
* Hügelsheim
Hügelsheim (Low Alemannic: ''Heilze'' or ''Helse ...
and Cuccurano before flowing into the
Adriatic Sea near
Fano.
Battles
Two battles were fought on the banks of Metauro in ancient times.
*in 207 BC,
Hasdrubal Barca, while marching to the aid of
Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
, was defeated and slain by a Roman army led by the
consuls
Marcus Livius Salinator and
Gaius Claudius Nero. The
Battle of the Metaurus was the decisive battle of the
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...
. The exact site of the battle is uncertain; tradition places it between
Fossombrone and the
Furlo 240px, Entrance of the Roman tunnel.
The Furlo Pass (Italian: ''Gola del Furlo'' or ''Passo del Furlo'') is a gorge on the ancient Roman road Via Flaminia in the Marche region of central Italy, where it passes near the Candigliano river, a tributa ...
, but it is probable that it occurred nearer the Adriatic coast;
*in 271, Roman Emperor
Aurelian
Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited t ...
defeated in the
Battle of Fano, fought near the river, the
Alamanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
, who had invaded the northern part of
Italia the previous year.
References
;Attribution
*
External links
La Valle del MetauroDatabase about natural and human aspects of the valley
Il Giornale del Metauro on-line news from the valley towns and villages
{{Authority control
Rivers of the Province of Pesaro and Urbino
Rivers of Italy
Adriatic Italian coast basins