The Metauro is a river in the
Marche region of 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 ...
. It rises in the
Apennine Mountains and runs east for or if the Meta is included as its uppermost reach.
The name of the river in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
is ''Metaurus'' or ''Mataurus.'' In
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
, 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
Monte dei Frati is a mountain in the Italian province of Arezzo near the border with Pesaro e Urbino and Perugia.
Geography
The mountain is in height. It is on the border between the Umbrian Apennines and the Umbrian-Marchean Apennines. I ...
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 Emilia ...
,
Arezzo and
Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part ...
.
It flows east through Pesaro e Urbino near
Mercatello sul Metauro
Mercatello sul Metauro ( Romagnol: ''Mercatèl'') 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.
Economy is mostly based on agriculture ...
,
Sant'Angelo in Vado
Sant'Angelo in Vado is a '' comune'' (municipality), site of Ancient Tifernum Metaurense and former bishopric in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the central Italian Adriatic region Marche.
Geography
It is located about west of Ancona and ab ...
(where the river forms the Cascata del Sasso, "Waterfall of the Stone"),
Urbania,
Fermignano,
Fossombrone (in whose territory it receives the waters of the
Candigliano
The Candigliano is a river in the Marche and Umbria regions of Italy. Its source is in the Appennino Umbro-Marchigiano mountains in the province of Pesaro e Urbino near the border with the province of Perugia. The river flows east and forms the ...
), and, after flowing into a tight valley, the
Gola del 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 trib ...
,
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
Pesaro () is a city and '' comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capita ...
and Cuccurano before flowing into the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...
near
Fano
Fano is a town and '' comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the '' Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by ...
.
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, was defeated and slain by a Roman army led by the
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
s
Marcus Livius Salinator and
Gaius Claudius Nero. The
Battle of the Metaurus was the decisive battle of the
Second Punic War. 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 trib ...
, but it is probable that it occurred nearer the Adriatic coast;
*in 271, Roman Emperor
Aurelian defeated in the
Battle of Fano, fought near the river, the
Alamanni, 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