The river Ticino ( , ; lmo, Tesín; French and german: Tessin; la, Ticīnus) is the most important perennial left-bank

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the Po. It has given its name to the

Swiss canton The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Co ...

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 The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) *Reuss (river) in Switzerland *Reuss (state) or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the Republic of Reuss *Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Younger Line (House of Reuss), members incl ...

and

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

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 ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

at the frontier between the cantons of

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

and Ticino, is fed by the glaciers of the Alps and later flows through

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...

, before entering

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 ...

. The Ticino joins the Po a few kilometres downstream (along the Ticino) from

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

. It is about long. The highest point of the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

is the summit of

Grenzgipfel The Grenzgipfel (4,618 m)According to Collomb, the 'false Grenzgipfel' is 4,618 m, while the 'true Grenzgipfel' is 4,596 m. Collomb, Robin G., ''Pennine Alps Central'', London: Alpine Club, 1975, p. 172 (German for ''Border Summit'') is a peak o ...

(a subpeak of

Monte Rosa : , other_name = Monte Rosa massif , translation = Mount Rose , photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg , photo_caption = Central Mon ...

), at . Beneath it flows the Anza, a right-bank tributary of the Ticino. The river is

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

med in Switzerland in order to create

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...

, while in Italy it is primarily used for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

History

The legendary Gallic leader

Bellovesus Bellovesus (Gaulish: 'Worthy of Power') is a legendary Gallic chief of the Bituriges, said to have lived ca. 600 BC. According to a legend recounted by Livy, the king Ambigatus sent his sister's sons Bellovesus and Segovesus in search of new lands ...

was said to have defeated the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

here in circa 600 BC. Ticino was the location of the

Battle of Ticinus The battle of Ticinus was fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and a Roman army under Publius Cornelius Scipio in late November 218 BC as part of the Second Punic War. It took place in the flat country on the right bank of the ...

, the first battle of the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

fought between the

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage. It can also refer to: * Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921 * Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...

forces of

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

and the

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 ...

under Publius Cornelius Scipio in November 218 BC. The Ticino was in the territory of the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...

during much of the later medieval and early modern period, although its upper portion as far as

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

in 1500 and as far as the shores of

Lago Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...

in 1513, fell to the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy (German language, Modern German: ; historically , after the Swiss Reformation, Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ...

as a result of the Swiss campaigns in the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...

Towns and tributaries

Val Bedretto

Val Bedretto, a narrow alpine valley named after the village of

Bedretto Bedretto is a municipality and a village in the Val Bedretto, the upper most part of the river Ticino. It belongs to the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History In 1906 pre-Roman graves and a Roman era villa and co ...

, culminates in

Nufenen Pass Nufenen Pass (Italian: ''Passo della Novena'', German: ''Nufenenpass'') (el. 2478 m.) is the highest mountain pass with a paved road within Switzerland. It lies between the summits of Pizzo Gallina (north) and the Nufenenstock (south). The pass r ...

, Italian Passo della Novena, at located between

Pizzo Gallina Pizzo Gallina is a mountain in the Lepontine Alps of Switzerland, overlooking the Nufenen Pass. Administratively, the summit is located on the border between the municipality of Obergoms, to the north-west and in the canton of Valais, and the ...

and Nufenstock. Through it runs the border between the cantons of

and

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

. A road constructed in 1964 goes over the pass ultimately leading to the

Valley on the other side. French is mainly spoken in Valais but near the Pass,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

is spoken. The population of Ticino speaks

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. The road up the Val is fairly straight until it approaches the pass, where it becomes

hairpin A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the hai ...

. 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 Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

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

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic ...

(on

). * in

Stresa Stresa is a town and ''comune'' of about 4,600 residents on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, about northwest of Milan. It is situated on road and rail routes to the Simpl ...

(on

Vigevano Vigevano (; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Avgevan) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pavia, Lombardy in northern Italy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing ...

Tributaries

The Ticino has the following

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

(R on the right bank, L on the left, looking

downstream Downstream may refer to: * Downstream (bioprocess) * Downstream (manufacturing) * Downstream (networking) * Downstream (software development) * Downstream (petroleum industry) * Upstream and downstream (DNA), determining relative positions on DNA ...

): * Brenno (L) *

Moesa The Moesa is a river, a tributary of the Ticino, which flows through the Swiss cantons of Graubünden and Ticino. It rises in Val Vignun near the San Bernardino Pass and descends, along with the A13 motorway, through the Val Mesolcina towar ...

(L) * Verzasca (Lake Maggiore, R) * Maggia (Lake Maggiore, R) *

Cannobino __NOTOC__ The Cannobino is a little river or stream located in the province of Verbano Cusio Ossola in the Regions of Italy, region of Piedmont in the north of Italy, which by the local population often is simply called 'Il Fiume' (the river). Bas ...

(Lake Maggiore, R) * Giona (Lake Maggiore, L) *

Tresa The river Tresa leaves Lake Lugano at a point between Lavena Ponte Tresa in Italy and Ponte Tresa in Switzerland and flows into Lake Maggiore near Luino, a few hundred metres after joining the Margorabbia. At the outflow from Lake Lugano the rive ...

(Lake Maggiore, L) *

Boesio The Boesio is a river ( intermittent stream) in Valcuvia, a valley in the north of the province of Varese, Lombardy, Italy. It rises near Cuveglio and flowing in an east–west direction before entering Lake Maggiore at Laveno-Mombello. The ...

(Lake Maggiore, L) *

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

(Lake Maggiore, R) *

Toce The Toce () is a river in Piedmont, Italy, which stretches the length of the Val d'Ossola from the Swiss border to Lake Maggiore into which it debouches near Fondotoce in the commune of Verbania. The river is long and is formed in the upper V ...

(Lake Maggiore, R) * Stronetta (Lake Maggiore, R) *

Bardello Bardello is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Varese, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located ...

(Lake Maggiore, L) *

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...

(L) *

Roggia Vernavola Lucas Ramos Roggia (born 21 January 1991) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Juventude. Club career Roggia started his professional career with Internacional of Porto Alegre, making up a total two appearances ...

(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