| Volturno | |
|---|---|
 The river nearColli a Volturno | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Italy |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | nearRocchetta a Volturno |
| • elevation | about 500 m (1,600 ft) |
| Mouth | Tyrrhenian Sea |
• location | Castel Volturno |
• coordinates | 41°01′24″N13°55′31″E / 41.0233°N 13.9254°E /41.0233; 13.9254 |
| Length | 175 km (109 mi) |
| Basin size | 5,550 km2 (2,140 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 82.1 m3/s (2,900 cu ft/s) |
TheVolturno (ancientLatin nameVolturnus, fromvolvere, to roll) is ariver in south-centralItaly.
It rises in theAbruzzese centralApennines ofSamnium nearCastel San Vincenzo (province of Isernia,Molise) and flows southeast as far as its junction with theCalore Irpino nearCaiazzo and runs south as far asVenafro, and then turns southwest, pastCapua, to enter theTyrrhenian Sea inCastel Volturno, northwest ofNaples. The river is 175 kilometres (109 mi) long.
After a course of some 120 kilometres (75 mi) it receives, about 8 kilometres (5 mi) east of Caiazzo, the Calore River. The united stream now flows west-southwest past Capua, where theVia Appia and Latina joined just to the north of the bridge over it, and so through the Campanian plain, with many windings, into the sea. The direct length of the lower course is about 50 kilometres (31 mi), so that the whole is slightly longer than that of theLiri-Garigliano, and its basin far larger.
Its main tributaries areSan Bartolomeo,Lete,Torano,Rivo Tella,Titerno,Calore Irpino andIsclero.
The river has always had a considerable military importance, and the colony ofVolturnum (no doubt preceded by an older, possibly evenEtruscan, port of Capua) was founded in 194 BC at its mouth on the south bank by theRomans; it is now about one mile inland. A fort had already been placed there during the Roman siege of Capua to serve, with Puteoli, for the provisioning of the army.Augustus placed a colony of veterans here. TheVia Domitiana fromSinuessa toPuteoli crossed the river at this point, and some remains of the bridge are visible. The river was navigable as far as Capua.
In 554, the Byzantine generalNarsesdefeated aFrankish-Alamannic army near this river, during theGothic War.
Following theinvasion of southern Italy by revolutionary forces led byGiuseppe Garibaldi in 1860,Francis II of the Two Sicilies fled from Naples and took up a defensive position on the south bank of the Volturno, nearS. Maria di Capua Vetere. ThePiedmontese troops and those of Garibaldi inflicted on the Neapolitan forces at thebattle of the Volturno, on 1 and 2 October, a defeat which led to the fall of Capua.
The Volturno also gave its name to theVolturno Line, aGerman defensive position in Italy duringWorld War II.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Volturno".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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