- Bursting of the Cucca banks
The so called bursting of the Cucca banks ("rotta della Cucca" in Italian)
tradition ally refers to aflood in theVeneto region of Italy that should have happened onOctober 17 589 Cite book|last=Paul the Deacon|authorlink=Paul the Deacon|title=Historia gentis Langobardorum |language=Latin|pages=, 23] according to the chronicles ofPaul the Deacon . TheAdige river overflowed after a "deluge of water that is believed not to have happened after the time ofNoah "; the flood caused great loss of lives, and destroyed part of the city walls ofVerona as well as paths,road s and large part of the country in lower Veneto.The tradition asserts that the banks of the Adige then burst at Cucca, a hamlet near
Veronella , about 35 km SE of Verona; anyway contemporaryhistorian s think that the bursting never really happened, and the tradition simply refers to the disasters due to the lack of maintainment of the banks that followed the fall of theRoman Empire .Fact|date=September 2007Due to the high fragmentation that followed the fall of the Roman Empire, no
government was willing to repair the flood, and the waters of the Adige had been let free to flow through the lower Veneto for centuries.Cite book|title=La mia Polesella perduta|last=Zemella|first=Rubis|origyear=1992|year=1998|publisher=A.V.I.S. di Polesella|language=Italian] The namePolesine originated at that time and was given to the wholeterritory that turned into aswamp .Consequences
The
hydrography of the lower Veneto had a dramatic change after the bursting of the Cucca banks: the river Adige did no more pass throughMontagnana and Este, and the new lower course diverted to the south passing throughLegnago ,Badia Polesine andCavarzere , roughly following what had been the lower course of the Tartaro river until then.The Tartaro itself diverted to the south contributing to the swamp; centuries later, as the land dried up, it started following what had been the former lower course of the
Mincio river, and has flowed into theAdriatic Sea byAdria ; the current lower course of the Tartaro has been then known by the name of the "Canal Bianco" (White Canal in both Italian and Venetan).The Mincio itself diverted to the south and has become a
tributary of the Po river since then; it had been awaterway from the Adriatic Sea to thelake Garda until then. The loss of this last significance contributed to the definitive decline of Adria and its port.Notes
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