Garigliano
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Garigliano | |
---|---|
The Garigliano near its mouth | |
Origin | near Cassino (FR) |
Mouth | Tyrrhenian Sea near Minturno |
Basin countries | Italy |
Length | 38 km (158 km including the Liri) |
Source elevation | c. 130 m |
Mouth elevation | 0 m |
Avg. discharge | 120 m³/s |
Basin area | 5,020 km² |
The Garigliano is a river in central Italy.
It forms at the confluence of the rivers Gari (also known as the Rapido) and Liri. Garigliano is actually a deformation of "Gari-Lirano" (which in Italian means something like "Gari from the Liri"). In ancient times the whole course of the Liri and Gagliano was known as the Liris.
For the most part of its 40 km (25 mile) length, the Garigliano River marks the border between the Italian regions of Lazio and Campania. In medieval times, the river (then known as the Verde) marked the southern border of the Papal States.
[edit] Historical significance
During World War II, the Liri-Gari-Garigliano rivers were at the centre of a system of German defensive lines (the most famous of which is the Gustav Line) around which the battle of Battle of Monte Cassino took place in 1943-44.
[edit] Nuclear power plant
From 1959 until 1982 there has been a BWR nuclear power plant named Garigliano near the town Sessa Aurunca.