Ticino River

The river Ticino ( , ; lmo, Tesín; French and german: Tessin; la, Ticīnus) is the most important perennial left-bank tributary of the Po. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows.

It is one of the four major rivers taking their source in the Gotthard region, along with the Rhône, Reuss and Rhine.

Name

The name may have meant "the runner," from Proto-Indo-European *tekʷ-ino-s, from *tekʷ- (“to run, flow”).

Course

The river rises in the Val Bedretto in Switzerland at the frontier between the cantons of Valais and Ticino, is fed by the glaciers of the Alps 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 long. The highest point of the drainage basin is the summit of Grenzgipfel (a subpeak of Monte Rosa), at . Beneath it flows the Anza, a right-bank tributary of the Ticino.

The river is dammed in Switzerland in order to create hydroelectricity, while in Italy it is primarily used for irrigation.

History

The legendary Gallic leader Bellovesus was said to have defeated the Etruscans here in circa 600 BC. Ticino was the location of the Battle of Ticinus, 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.

The Ticino was in the territory of the Duchy of Milan during much of the later medieval and early modern period, although its upper portion as far as Bellinzona in 1500 and as far as the shores of Lago Maggiore in 1513, fell to the Old Swiss Confederacy as a result of the Swiss campaigns in the Italian Wars.

Towns and tributaries

Val Bedretto

Val Bedretto, a narrow alpine valley named after the village of Bedretto, culminates in Nufenen Pass, Italian Passo della Novena, at located between Pizzo Gallina and Nufenstock. Through it runs the border between the cantons of Valais and Ticino. A road constructed in 1964 goes over the pass ultimately leading to the Rhône 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 is an area of springs from which the Ticino originates. Subsequently, it becomes a mountain brook flowing straight down the Val to the village of All'Acqua or All'Acqua Ospizio at , 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 and Bedretto at . 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.

Valle Leventina

* Airolo

Other

* in Switzerland: Bellinzona, Locarno (on Lake Maggiore).
* in Italy: Stresa (on Lake Maggiore), Vigevano, Pavia.

Tributaries

The Ticino has the following tributaries (R on the right bank, L on the left, looking downstream):

* Brenno (L)
* Moesa (L)
* Verzasca (Lake Maggiore, R)
* Maggia (Lake Maggiore, R)
* Cannobino (Lake Maggiore, R)
* Giona (Lake Maggiore, L)
* Tresa (Lake Maggiore, L)
* Boesio (Lake Maggiore, L)
* San Bernardino (Lake Maggiore, R)
* Toce (Lake Maggiore, R)
* Stronetta (Lake Maggiore, R)
* Bardello (Lake Maggiore, L)
* Arno (L)
* Roggia Vernavola (L)

References

External links

Photo gallery about the Ticino Valley Natural Park made by a UNESCO photographer

{{Authority control

Rivers of Ticino
Waterways of Italy
Rivers of the Province of Novara
Rivers of the Province of Varese
Rivers of the Province of Milan
Rivers of the Province of Pavia
International rivers of Europe
Tributaries of Lake Maggiore
Rivers of Italy
Rivers of Switzerland
Braided rivers in Italy