Piave

The Piave (Latin: Plavis) is a river in northern Italy. It begins in the Alps and flows southeast for more of 220 kilometres (140 mi) into the Adriatic Sea near the city of Venice. It is the longest river of the Veneto region.

Piave
MouthAdriatic Sea
Length220 km (140 mi)

Geography

The Piave river has a length of 220 km (137 mi), and a drainage basin with an area of approximately 4,100 km2 (1,583 sq mi).[1] It is the fifth river of Italy for length among those which flow directly into the sea.

Its average yearly discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is 137.0 m3/s (4,840 cu ft/s) at Nervesa della Battaglia in the Treviso province.[2]

Course

 
Source of the Piave river

The Piave river starts on the Eastern Alps (the Carnic Alps), on the southern slopes of the Monte Peralba, in the comune of Sappada, province of Belluno, at an elevation of about 2,037 m (6,683 ft), near the border with the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.

The river flows only through the Belluno, Treviso and Venice provinces in the Veneto region and flows into the Adriatic Sea to the northwest of Venice, next to the port of Cortellazzo, between the comuni of Eraclea and Jesolo. To the left of the mouth, there is a lagoon called Laguna del Mort formed by an old branch of the river.

After flowing, from northeast to southwest, through the Belluno province, the Piave flows through the following comuni:

Province of Treviso:

Metropolitan City of Venice:

Main tributaries

 
Piave river between Mel and Santa Giustina

The main tributaries of the Piave river are:

Left tributaries:

Right tributaries:

  • Ansiei - 37.4 km
  • Boite - 45.0 km
  • Maè - 33.4 km
  • Cordevole - 78.9 km
  • Caorame - 20.8 km

History

There was an important battle in 1809 along the river during the Napoleonic Wars where the Franco-Italian army fought against Austrian troops.

In 1918, during World War I, it was the place of the "Battle of the Piave River", the last major Austro-Hungarian attack during the Italian Campaign, which failed. The Battle of the Piave was the decisive battle of World War I on the Italian Front.

Related pages

References

  1. "Piave" (in italiano). Treccani.it - Enciclopedie on line. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  2. "Bacino del Fiume Piave - Piano stralcio per la sicurezza idraulica del medio e basso corso" (PDF) (in italiano). ADBVE. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2017.

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