The Medellín River (), called Porce River () during most of its course, is a
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
that flows through the
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
n city of
Medellín
Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...
and its
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
. For many years an organization called Mi Río (My River) was involved in river cleanup projects.
For the river's first , it is referred to as the Medellín, and after that it is known as the Porce. It is a tributary of the
Nechi River, which flows in turn into the
Cauca River.
Every year, the
Christmas lighting of Medellín takes place on the Medellín River.
Porce III Dam
The river is the site of the
Porce III Dam, which was completed in 2011.
History
From 1883 to 1916, the canalization of the river aroused the interest of the upper class, who saw in this work the possibility of improving the hygienic and sanitary conditions of the city, but also concentrated the desire to drain the territory, improve its conditions and incorporate them into the city to expand the urban area between the old village and the banks of the river.
References
Rivers of Colombia
{{Colombia-river-stub