Margorabbia

Margorabbia
Margorabbia
Origin Valganna
Mouth The river Tresa, just before it enters Lake Maggiore at Luino
Basin countries Italy
Mouth elevation c. 193 m (the elevation of Lake Maggiore)

The Margorabbia is a ‘torrent’—or intermittent stream—of the province of Varese in north Italy’s Lombardy, a tributary of the Tresa which it joins a few hundred metres upstream of Lake Maggiore.

The source is near Valganna. After forming a number of small lakes, including Lago di Ganna and Lago di Ghirla, its course continues through the Prealps of Varese until near Cunardo it is swallowed up by a system of caves: Pont Niv, Antro dei Morti, Grotte di Villa Radaelli and Grotte del Traforo.

It emerges from underground near Ferrera di Varese and runs through the Valtravaglia crossing the valley’s communes of Grantola, Mesenzana and Germignaga. A cycle path has recently been constructed along this part of the river.

The torrent has many affluents. The most important left side tributaries are the Rancina, the Boesio and the Gesone; from the right it receives the waters of the Boggione, the Lisascora and the Grantorella.

Thanks to the wet and karstic areas it traverses, the Margorabbia has a generally high discharge and dries up far less frequently than many torrents. These feature made it a useful source of power for the mills and factories which grew up along its banks. The power hammers of Ghirla in the commune of Valganna are particularly well known.

The river is subject to sudden and dramatic increases in its flow, becoming truly ‘torrential’. Very often bridges have been destroyed, or it has broken its banks and caused severe flooding in the Valtraviglia. Today many artificial embankments have been constructed along the Margorabbia for the purposes of flood protection.

The Margorabbia in literature

The river was mentioned by the writer Piero Chiara, who was born in Luino on Lake Maggiore, in his story Quando cominciò il mercato di Luino.

Notes

This article incorporates information from this version of the equivalent article on the Italian Wikipedia.

Coordinates: 45°59′34″N 8°43′56″E / 45.9929°N 8.73231°E / 45.9929; 8.73231


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Margorabbia — MargorabbiaVorlage:Infobox Fluss/GKZ fehlt Lage Italien Flusssystem Tresa→Tessin→PoVorlage:Infobox Fluss/FLUSSSYSTEM falsch Vorlage:Infobox Fluss/ABFLUSSWEG fehlt …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lake Maggiore — Lago Maggiore Verbano Lake Maggiore A view of Lake Maggiore and the Alps from above Laveno …   Wikipedia

  • Muralto — Country Switzerland …   Wikipedia

  • Monte Verità — (literally Hill of Truth) is a hill (350 meters or 1,150 feet high) in Ascona (Swiss canton of Ticino), which has served as the site of many different Utopian and cultural events and communities since the beginning of the twentieth century.[1]… …   Wikipedia

  • Dormelletto —   Comune   Comune di Dormelletto …   Wikipedia

  • Meina —   Comune   Comune di Meina …   Wikipedia

  • Monvalle —   Comune   Comune di Monvalle …   Wikipedia

  • Oggebbio —   Comune   Comune di Oggebbio …   Wikipedia

  • Magadino — village church Country Switzerland …   Wikipedia

  • Minusio — Country Switzerland …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”