The Velino is a river in central

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 ...

, a tributary of the

Nera Nera may refer to: People * Nera Smajic (born 1984), Bosnian-born Swedish footballer * Nera Stipičević (born 1983), Croatian actress * Nera White (1935–2016), American basketball player * André António Ribeiro Novais (born 1988), Portugue ...

. Its source is located on Monte Pozzoni's slopes (1,903 m) near Cittareale. Aftwards it runs through a narrow valley next the

Mount Terminillo Monte Terminillo is a massif in the Monti Reatini, part of the Abruzzi Apennine range in central Italy. It is located some 20 km from Rieti and 100 km from Rome and has a highest altitude of . It is a typical Apennine massif, both fo ...

, known as "Gole del Vento" ("Wind's Ravines") and, near Antrodoco, receives the Peschiera Springs, which have a discharge of some 18 m³/s (9.5 m³/s is sent to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) through an aqueduct. Then it receives the waters of its left tributaries Salto and

Turano Turano may refer to: *Lago del Turano, a lake in the Province of Rieti, Lazio, Italy * Turano-Mongolian cattle, a group of taurine cattle in Northern and Eastern Asia *Turano Lodigiano, a comune in Lombardy, Italy *John Turano, American former alt-r ...

, and then enters the plain of

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

, where its discharge if further increased by other minor streams to reach 60 m³/s. Near

Papigno Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...

, it falls into the Nera forming the famous

Cascate delle Marmore The Cascata delle Marmore () or Marmore Falls is a man-made waterfall created by the ancient Romans. Its total height is 165 m (541 feet), making it the tallest man-made waterfall in the world. It is located 7.7 km from Terni, a prov ...

falls. In pre-

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

times the river ended into a marsh within the plain of Rieti. The falls were created by consul

Manius Curius Dentatus Manius Curius Dentatus (died 270 BC) was a Roman general and statesman noted for ending the Samnite War and for his military exploits during the Pyrrhic War. According to Pliny, he was born with teeth, thus earning the surname Dentatus, "toothed ...

and enlarged in medieval times, being updated to the current state in the 18th century by architect Andrea Vici.

References

External links

Rivers of the Province of Rieti Rivers of Italy {{Italy-river-stub