Adige
Adige is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 46.00°, 11.12°
About Adige
The Adige is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the province of South Tyrol, near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland, and flows 410 kilometres (250 mi) through most of northeastern Italy to the Adriatic Sea.
The name of the river is of unknown origin. Nineteenth-century theories, such as a derivation from the Proto-Celtic *yt-ese 'the water', and alleged to be cognate with the River Tees in England (anciently Athesis, Teesa), have never been accepted by Celtic onomasts and are now completely obsolete.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Adige (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Adige in Depth
Ecology
The Adige is home to the marble trout (Salmo marmoratus), but at far lower populations than in the past. Fish stocking is one of the most significant causes of the sharp reduction in the original (indigenous) fish population of this subspecies. It will spawn with and interbreed with brown trout, which are regularly stocked in the river and its tributaries.
Description
The river source is near the Reschen Pass (1,504 metres (4,934 ft)) close to the borders with Austria and Switzerland above the Inn Valley. It flows through the artificial alpine Lake Reschen. The lake is known for the church tower that marks the site of the former village of Alt Graun ("Old Graun"); it was evacuated and flooded in 1953 after the dam was finished. Near Glurns, the Rom River joins from the Swiss Val Müstair.
The Adige runs eastward through the Vinschgau to Merano, where it is met by the Passer river from the north. The section between Merano and Bolzano is called Etschtal, meaning Adige Valley.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Adige (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Adige: Key Facts
| Length | 410 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 266 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 14,700 km² |
| Source | Reschen Pass |
| Mouth | Adriatic Sea |
| Drainage system | Adige basin |
| Tributaries | Passer, Eisack, Avisio, Plima, Falschauer, Noce, Fersina, Saldurbach |
Facts from Wikidata Q13696 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Adige: Quick Answers
- Where is Adige?
- Adige is located in Italy, at 46.0049° N, 11.1185° E.
- Are there dams on the Adige?
- No dam on the Adige is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.