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| Garigliano | |
|---|---|
 The Garigliano near its mouth | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Italy |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | nearCassino |
| • elevation | c. 130 m (430 ft) |
| Mouth | Tyrrhenian Sea |
• location | nearMinturno |
• coordinates | 41°13′22″N13°45′42″E / 41.2229°N 13.7617°E /41.2229; 13.7617 |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Length | 38 km (24 mi)(158 km or 98 mi including theLiri) |
| Basin size | 5,020 km2 (1,940 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 120 m3/s (4,200 cu ft/s) |
TheGarigliano (Italian pronunciation:[ɡariʎˈʎaːno]) is ariver in centralItaly.
It forms at the confluence of the riversGari (also known as the Rapido) andLiri. Garigliano is actually a deformation of "Gari-Lirano" (which in Italian means something like "Gari from the Liri"). In ancient times the whole course of the Liri and Garigliano was known as theLiris.[1]
For the most part of its 40 km (25 mi) length, the Garigliano River marks the border between the Italian regions ofLazio andCampania. In medieval times, the river (then known as theVerde) marked the southern border of thePapal States.
Western Roman EmperorMajorian engaged aVandal raiding party inbattle at Garigliano in 457.
In the 9th and early 10th centuries, a band ofSaracens established themselves on the banks of the river, from where they launched frequent raids onCampania and central Italy. In 915 a coalition ofPope John X, theByzantines,Franks,Lombards, andNaples defeated the Garigliano Arabs in theBattle of Garigliano.
In 1503, Spanish and French forces foughtanother battle of Garigliano, in whichPiero II de' Medici was drowned, thus control of the Medici family passed toGiovanni de' Medici, later Pope Leo X. The biggerFrench Army was practically destroyed at little cost to the Spanish, with the remnants later surrendering atGaeta.
During theItalian Campaign ofWorld War II, the Liri-Gari-Garigliano rivers stood at the centre of a system ofGerman defensive lines (the most famous of which is theGustav Line) around which thebattle of Monte Cassino took place in 1943–1944. Rumours tell that the waters of the river ran red in the Cassino area during the famous battle, because of the blood of the many corpses of soldiers.
From 1959 until 1982 there was aBWRnuclear power plant namedGarigliano near the townSessa Aurunca.
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