Adige

Adige
Etsch, Àdexe, Adesc, Athesis
River
Country	Italy
Cities	Glurns, Merano, Bolzano, Auer, Trento, Rovereto, Verona
Source	Reschen Pass
- location	Graun im Vinschgau, South Tyrol, Italy
- elevation	1,520 m (4,987 ft)
- coordinates	46°50′04″N 10°30′53″E
Mouth	Adriatic Sea
- coordinates	45°8′59″N 12°19′13″E
Length	410 km (255 mi)
Basin	12,100 km2 (4,672 sq mi)
Map of Adige River

The Adige (Italian: Adige Italian pronunciation: [ˈaːdidʒe]; Venetian: Àdexe; German: Etsch; Ladin: Adesc; Latin: Athesis; Ancient Greek: Ἄθεσις) is a river with its source in the Alpine province of South Tyrol near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland. At 410 kilometres (250 mi) in length, it is the second longest river in Italy, after the River Po with 652 kilometres (405 mi).

The river sources 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 Reschensee. 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 enclosing the headwaters was finished. Near Glurns, the River Rom joins from the Swiss Val Müstair.

The Adige runs eastbound 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. South of Bolzano, the Eisack joins the river, which heads south through a valley that has always been one of the major routes through the Alps It leads to and from the Reschen and the Brenner passes, at 1,370 metres (4,490 ft) considered the easiest of the main Alpine passes.

The Salurner Klause/Chiusa di Salorno narrows at Salorno mark the southernmost part of the predominantly German-speaking province of South Tyrol. The Adige was mentioned in the "Lied der Deutschen" of 1841 as the southern border of the German language-area of the time. In 1922 Germany adopted the song as its national anthem, after Italy took control of all of the Adige.

Near Trento, the Avisio, Noce, and Fersina rivers join. The Adige crosses Trentino and later Veneto, flowing past the city of Verona and the towns of Rovereto and Adria through the Lagarina valley and the north-eastern part of the Po Plain into the Adriatic Sea. The Adige and the Po run parallel in the river delta without properly joining.

As a river in the mountains, it is subject to sudden swellings and overflows. It is also connected through artificial underground canals to Lake Garda for flood prevention, the Mori-Torbole tunnel.

Graun, the bell-tower in the Reschensee

The Adige between Laas and Göflan in the Vinschgau

External links

• Encyclopædia Britannica