The Timavo River, known in Slovene as the ' or ', is a two-kilometre stream in the

Province of Trieste The Province of Trieste ( it, Provincia di Trieste, sl, Tržaška pokrajina; fur, provinzia di Triest) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Trieste. It had an are ...

. It has four sources near San Giovanni ( sl, Štivan) near Duino ( sl, Devin) and outflows in the

Gulf of Panzano A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented ...

(part of the Gulf of Trieste) southeast of Monfalcone ( sl, Tržič), Italy.

Geography

The river has a karst character. It receives much of its water through subterranean flow from the

Reka Reka may refer to: Places * Řeka, a village in the Czech Republic * Reka, Cerkno, a village near Cerkno, Slovenia * Reka, Laško, a village near Laško, Slovenia * Reka (Kladovo), a village near Kladovo, Serbia * Reka, Koprivnica, a village ne ...

River ( Slovenia), but tracer studies have shown that other sinking rivers,

Vipava Vipava can refer to: * Vipava, Vipava, town in southwestern Slovenia * Vipava (river), in Slovenia and Italy * Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Li ...

, Soča, and Raša also contribute. From modelling results, the Timavo is believed to receive one third of its flow from the Reka and two-thirds of its flow from infiltration of precipitation into the Karst Plateau, and to a lesser extent from the other sinking river sources.

History

The Roman authors Livy,

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

, and Virgil mention the river. Virgil wrote that nine streams emerge from a mountain to form the river. A Roman settlement near the sources was called Fons Timavi. An Italian passenger liner called the ''Timavo'' ran aground during the Second World War on the east coast of South Africa near Cape Vidal. The engine of the wreck is still visible from the beach, now situated within the Isimangaliso Wetland Park.

Literature

In his 2019 work ''Underland'', British author Robert Macfarlane tracks the source of the Timavo and discusses the history of its exploration.

References

*''Timava: skrivnostna reka'', Massimo Gasparini; občina Devin Nabrežina, 2005 *''Timavo: esplorazioni e studi'', Trieste, Societa alpina delle Giulie, 1999 *''Reka - Timav. Podobe, zgodovina in ekologija kraške reke'', Ljubljana, Mladinska knjiga, 1990

External links

Izviri Timave, spletna stran občine Devin-Nabrežina
{{coord, 45.794, N, 13.58, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Rivers of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Karst springs Province of Trieste Rivers of Italy Rivers of the Province of Gorizia Adriatic Italian coast basins