Editing Ticino (river)

{{Short description|Tributary of the Po river}}
{{Infobox river
 | name                 = Ticino
 | native_name          = {{native name|lmo|Tesin}}
 | map                  = Tessin (rivière).png
 | image                = Twilight of the old ways.jpg
 | image_caption        = The Ticino and the [[Ponte Coperto]] of [[Pavia]]<br>(originally medieval in date, rebuilt in 1950 after the destruction due to war bombing)
 | mapframe             = yes
 | mapframe-zoom        = 6
 | source1_location     = [[Val Bedretto]], [[Canton of Ticino|Ticino]], [[Switzerland]]
 | mouth                = [[Po (river)|Po]]
 | mouth_location       = south-east of [[Pavia]], [[Italy]]
 | mouth_coordinates    = {{coord|45|08|38|N|9|14|12|E|display=it|region:CH_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki}}
 | progression          = {{RPo}}
 | subdivision_type1    = Country
 | subdivision_name1    = [[Switzerland]], [[Italy]]
 | length               = {{convert|248|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}
 | source1_elevation    = about {{convert|2478|m|ft|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}
 | discharge2_location  = [[Bellinzona]]
 | discharge2_min       = {{convert|14.5|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on|disp=or}} (1Q)
 | discharge2_avg       = {{convert|70|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on|disp=or}} (MQ)
 | discharge2_max       = {{convert|906|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on|disp=or}} (mHQ), {{convert|1500|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on|disp=or}} (HHQ)
 | discharge1_avg       = {{convert|348|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on|disp=or}}
 | discharge1_min       = {{convert|54|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on|disp=or}}
 | discharge1_max       = {{convert|5000|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on|disp=or}}
 | basin_size           = {{convert|7228|km2|sqmi|sigfig=4|abbr=on}}
 | extra                = 
}}

The river '''Ticino''' ({{IPAc-en|t|ᵻ|ˈ|tʃ|iː|n|oʊ}} {{respell|titch|EE|noh}}, {{IPA|it|tiˈtʃiːno|lang}}; {{langx|lmo|Tesin}}; [[French language|French]] and {{langx|de|Tessin}}; {{langx|la|Ticīnus}}) is the most important perennial left-bank [[tributary]] of the [[Po (river)|Po]]. It has given its name to the [[Canton of Ticino|Swiss canton]] through which its upper portion flows.

It is one of the four major rivers taking their source in the [[Gotthard Massif|Gotthard]] region, along with the [[Rhône]], [[Reuss (river)|Reuss]] and [[Rhine]].<ref>John Murray, A Handbook for Travellers in Switzerland, and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont, Outlook, 2002 ISBN 3752586109 pp 119</ref>
The river rises in the Val Bedretto in [[Switzerland]] at the frontier between the cantons of [[Canton of Valais|Valais]] and [[canton of Ticino|Ticino]] right below the [[Nufenen Pass]], is fed by the glaciers of the Alps and later flows through [[Lake Maggiore]], which traverses the border to [[Italy]]. The Ticino joins the Po a few kilometres downstream (along the Ticino) from [[Pavia]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Rodolfo Soncini-Sessa|author2=Enrico Weber|author3=Francesca Cellina|author4=Francesca Pianosi|title=Integrated and Participatory Water Resources Management - Practice|publisher=Elsevier Science|year=2007|ISBN=9780080551425|page=40|language=en}}</ref> It is about {{convert|248|km|mi}} long. The stretch of river between Lake Maggiore and the confluence in the Po is included in the [[Parco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticino]], a [[Nature reserve]] included by [[UNESCO]] in the [[World Network of Biosphere Reserves]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Unesco |title=Ticino, Val Grande Verbano |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/mab/ticino-val-grande-verbano |website=unesco.org |publisher=Unesco |access-date=7 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

==Name==

The name may have meant "the runner," from Proto-Indo-European *tekʷ-ino-s, from *tekʷ- (“to run, flow”).<ref>L'onomastica dell'Italia antica: aspetti linguistici, storici, culturali, tipologici e classificatori. (2009). Italy: École fran-caise de Rome, p. 164</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ticinus#Latin | title=Ticinus | date=29 June 2021 }}</ref>

==Course==
The Ticino arises from the many torrents that drain the mountain flanks on the eastern side of [[Nufenen Pass]] in the upper [[Bedretto|Val Bedretto]]. From here, the river flows to the north-east through the Val Bedretto to [[Airolo]] ({{convert|1127|m}}) where the south ramp of the [[St Gotthard Pass]] and south portals of both the [[Gotthard Railway Tunnel]] and the [[Gotthard Road Tunnel]] are located. Then it turns slowly to the southeast while entering the [[Valle Leventina]]. In the Leventina, the Ticino flows through three terrain steps separated by two narrow gorges (''Gola di Monte Piottino'' and ''Biaschina'') and finally reaches the canton's floor near [[Bodio]] at around {{convert|320|m|ft|abbr=off}}. Shortly after, at [[Biasca]] ({{convert|286|m|ft|abbr=off}}), the river is joined by its first major tributary, the [[Brenno (river)|Brenno]] which flows from [[Lukmanier Pass|Passo del Lucomagno]] through the [[Blenio Valley|Valle di Blenio]].

Before the Ticino passes west of the canton's capital, [[Bellinzona]], the river converges with its second larger left tributary, the [[Moesa (river)|Moesa]], originating below the [[Passo del San Bernardino]] and flowing through the [[Valle Mesolcina]]. The Valle Mesolcina (and the [[Val Calanca]]) belongs geographically and culturally to the Ticino, but politically it is part of the [[canton of the Grisons]]. This part of the river valley between Biasca and Bellinzona is called the ''Riviera''. The river is [[dam]]med after Bellinzona. Now the Ticino turns almost westwards and flows through the perfectly flat ''Piano di Magadino'', an important cultivation and nature reserve area the river generated itself by its own sediments over ten thousands of years, before it enters the [[Lake Maggiore|Lago Maggiore]] at the lowest point of Switzerland at {{convert|193|m}}.

Only about the first sixth of the lake lies in Switzerland. Four major tributaries join the Ticino in Lago Maggiore. The [[Verzasca (river)|Verzasca]] and the [[Maggia (river)|Maggia]] enter the lake in Switzerland in [[Tenero]] and in Locarno/[[Ascona]], respectively. The [[Tresa]] drains the [[Lake Lugano|Lago di Lugano]] and flows in [[Luino]] into Lago Maggiore. The [[Toce]] drains many valleys to the northwest of Lago Maggiore and joins the lake near [[Feriolo]]. It surpasses the Ticino in average discharge volume and contains the highest peak of the catchment area of the Ticino river system, the [[Grenzgipfel]] ({{convert|4617|m|ft|abbr=off}}) in the [[Monte Rosa]] massif.

In [[Sesto Calende]] the river, now called Fiume Ticino, exits Lake Maggiore and meanders southwards, passing the [[Milano-Malpensa Airport]] in the east. Now slowly turning to the southeast, the river circumvents [[Milano]] at a distance of about {{convert|20|km}} in the east. Shortly before it converges with the Po in the south of Milano, it passes [[Pavia]] on its northern shore.

==History==
The legendary Gallic leader [[Bellovesus]] was said to have defeated the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] here in circa 600 BC. Ticino was the location of the [[Battle of Ticinus]], the first battle of the [[Second Punic War]] fought between the [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] forces of [[Hannibal]] and the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] under [[Publius Cornelius Scipio (consul 218 BC)|Publius Cornelius Scipio]] in November 218 BC.

In the Middle Ages [[Pavia]] (first capital of the [[Kingdom of the Lombards]] and then of the [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|kingdom of Italy]]) was, thanks to the waters of the Ticino, a fundamental hub for communications and trade between [[Venice]] and the [[Po Valley|Po valley]]. Furthermore, still in Pavia, there was the only brick bridge ([[ponte Coperto]]) which until the 19th century crossed the Ticino from Lake Maggiore to the Po.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Romanoni |first1=Fabio |title=Guerra e navi sui fiumi dell'Italia settentrionale (secoli XII- XIV) |journal=Archivio Storico Lombardo |date=2008 |volume=134 |pages=11–43 |url=https://www.academia.edu/21463521/Guerra_e_navi_sui_fiumi_dellItalia_settentrionale_secoli_XII-_XIV_-_Archivio_Storico_Lombardo_CXXXIV_2008_ |access-date=1 February 2023 |language=it |issn=0392-0232}}</ref>

A wooden bridge was built by the [[Visconti of Milan|Visconti]] in [[Vigevano]] in the early fourteenth century, but it was set on fire by the [[Pavia]] fleet in 1315, rebuilt by [[Luchino Visconti (died 1349)|Luchino Visconti]], it was destroyed again by the Pavia in 1356 and never rebuilt.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Romanoni |first1=Fabio |title=La guerra d’acqua dolce. Navi e conflitti medievali nell’Italia settentrionale |date=2023 |publisher=Clueb |location=Bologna |isbn=978-88-31365-53-6 |pages=55–58 |url=https://www.academia.edu/100479472/La_guerra_d_acqua_dolce_Navi_e_conflitti_medievali_nell_Italia_settentrionale |access-date=27 April 2023}}</ref>

The Ticino was in the territory of the [[Duchy of Milan]] during much of the later medieval and early modern period, although its upper portion as far as [[Bellinzona]] in 1500 and as far as the shores of [[Lago Maggiore]] in 1513, fell to the [[Old Swiss Confederacy]] as a result of the [[Transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy|Swiss campaigns]] in the [[Italian Wars]].

==Towns and tributaries==
[[File:TicinoRiver-June2016 (3).jpg|thumb|left|250px|Part of the river Ticino, south of [[Milan-Malpensa Airport]] in Italy.]]

===Val Bedretto===
[[File:Ticino at Gotthard-Tunnel 2009.jpg|thumb|upright|The upper Ticino near [[Airolo]]]]
Val Bedretto, a narrow alpine valley named after the village of [[Bedretto]], culminates in [[Nufenen Pass]], ({{langx|it|Passo della Novena}}, {{langx|de|Nufenen Pass}}), at {{convert|2478|m|ft|abbr=on}} located between [[Pizzo Gallina]] (north, {{convert|3060|m|ft|abbr=on}}) and [[Nufenenstock]] (south, {{convert|2865|m|ft|abbr=on}}). The road up the valley is fairly straight until it approaches the pass, where the nine [[hairpin turn]]s start.

The Ticino originates on both sides, north and south, of the Nufenenstock: A smaller tributary originates from a small mountain lake south of the Nufenenstock and north of the [[Piccolo Corno Gries]] ({{convert|2928|m|ft|abbr=on}}) below the [[Passo del Corno]] at {{convert|2484|m|ft|abbr=on}} in the short valley of the same name. Until the beginning of the 20th century the Valaisinne [[Gries Glacier]] was still flowing over the Corno Pass into the Val Corno!

Both spring areas converges about where the hairpins of the eastern pass road begins to circumvent about {{convert|700|m|ft|abbr=on}} in altitude. Through the passes and over the Nufenenstock runs the border between the [[Cantons of Switzerland|canton]]s of [[Canton of Valais|Valais]] and [[Canton of Ticino|Ticino]].

A paved road constructed in 1964 goes over the Passo della Novena and after some ten hairpins down about {{convert|500|m|ft|abbr=on}} in altitude on its western side and then through the [[Ägenental]] in northeasten direction ultimately leading to the [[Obergoms]], the upper half of the valley of the uppermost part the [[Rhône]] course. While the lower part of the Valais speaks [[French language|French]], the upper part speaks its particular [[Highest Alemannic]] dialect, the [[Walliser German]], the population of Ticino speaks [[Italian language|Italian]].

Subsequently, the Ticino becomes a mountain brook flowing straight down the valley to the hamlet of All'Acqua or All'Acqua Ospizio at {{convert|1614|m|ft|abbr=on}}, named for the [[Hostel|hospice]] for travellers located there near the previous end of a drivable road in former centuries. Currently, it is a base for skiing and hiking. Further down eastwards the small villages of Ronco at {{convert|1476|m|ft|abbr=on}} and finally Bedretto ({{convert|1402|m|ft|abbr=on}}) and Villa Bedretto appear.<ref>{{cite book|title=Walking in Ticino, Switzerland: A Walking Guide|first=Kev|last=Reynolds|author-link=Kev Reynolds|edition=illustrated|publisher=Cicerone Press Limited|year=1992|isbn=978-1-85284-098-3|chapter=Val Bedretto|pages=32–43|location=Milnthorpe}}</ref>
Below Bedretto the Ri di Cristallina, "Cristallina stream", a right tributary from the Val Torta, joins the Ticino at Ossasco, and further down the valley, Fontana is the lowest village in Val Bedretto. The entire area is laced with hiking trails and mountain huts. The valley is subject to avalanches and snow can remain on the ground as late as September.

===Valle Leventina===
* [[Airolo]]

===Other===
* in [[Switzerland]]: [[Bellinzona]], [[Locarno]] (on [[Lake Maggiore]]).
* in [[Italy]]: [[Stresa]] (on [[Lake Maggiore]]), [[Vigevano]], [[Pavia]].

===Tributaries===
The Ticino has the following [[tributary|tributaries]] (R on the right bank, L on the left, looking [[wikt:downstream|downstream]]):
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Brenno (river)|Brenno]] (L)
* [[Moesa (river)|Moesa]] (L)
* [[Verzasca (river)|Verzasca]] (Lake Maggiore, R)
* [[Maggia (river)|Maggia]] (Lake Maggiore, R)
* [[Cannobino]] (Lake Maggiore, R)
* [[Giona (river)|Giona]] (Lake Maggiore, L)
* [[Tresa]] (Lake Maggiore, L)
* [[Boesio]] (Lake Maggiore, L)
* [[San Bernardino (torrent)|San Bernardino]] (Lake Maggiore, R)
* [[Toce]] (Lake Maggiore, R)
* [[Stronetta (river)|Stronetta]] (Lake Maggiore, R)
* [[Bardello (river)|Bardello]] (Lake Maggiore, L)
* [[Arno (Ticino)|Arno]] (L)
* [[Roggia Vernavola]] (L)
{{Div col end}}

==See also==
* [[List of rivers of Switzerland]]

==References==
{{Commons category|Ticino river|Ticino (river)}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://valesmonkeys.smugmug.com/Photography/Ticino Photo gallery about the Ticino Valley Natural Park made by a UNESCO photographer].

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{{Lago Maggiore}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ticino (river)| ]]
[[Category:Ticino basin| ]]
[[Category:Rivers of Ticino]]
[[Category:Waterways of Italy]]
[[Category:Rivers of the Province of Novara]]
[[Category:Rivers of the Province of Varese]]
[[Category:Rivers of the Metropolitan City of Milan]]
[[Category:Rivers of the Province of Pavia]]
[[Category:International rivers of Europe]]
[[Category:Tributaries of Lake Maggiore]]
[[Category:Rivers of Italy]]
[[Category:Rivers of Switzerland]]
[[Category:Braided rivers in Italy]]