Reno (river)
| Reno | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
 | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | Adriatic Sea |
| Length | 211.8 km |
The Reno is a river of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is the tenth river in Italy in length (the sixth between those which are no tributary of others) and the most important of the region apart the Po River. The name of the river has the same etymology of the German Rhein[1], as both derives from the Celt word meaning "flowing (of water)"
It has a watershed basin of c. 5,000 km²[2]. The annual average discharge at the mouth is c. 95 m³/s; at the point the river start to flow in the Pianura Padana (Po River Plain), it amounts to c. 25 m³/s. The highest values registered at the mouth near 2,300 m³/s, but the typical values of a flood is around 1,000 m³/s. The minimal discharge reported is 0.6 m³/s.
The river rises in the Le Lari massif of the province of Pistoia (Tuscany) at c. 745 m over the sea level, from two stream joining near Le Piastre, in the comune of Pistoia. Its upper curse marks the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna and flows in a wood area crossed by the Bologna-Porretta-Pistoia railways line (inaugurated in 1864 and one of the most outstanding for the time as for engineering effort). The upper course is characterized by several artificial water basins corresponding to dams used for hydro-electrical energy production. The power erogated by the Reno's basin is second, for Italian Appenines rivers, only to that of the Nera-Velino in Umbria.
In its lower course the Reno receives the water of numerous streams, some of which are seasonal. Its mouth is on the Adriatic Sea, near Casalecchio di Reno, south east to the Valli di Comacchio. The most important include the Limentra, Silla, Setta, Idice, Sillaro, Santerno and Senio.
Other
- The river is mentioned by Dante Alighieri's Inferno (Canto XVIII) to define the Bolognesi as those "living between the Savena and the Reno".
- In 43 BC, on an islet of the river, near the then Roman city of Bononia, it was signed the pact creating the Second triumvirate.