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Cascata delle Marmore - Marmore Falls
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Cascata delle Marmore - Marmore Falls
The Cascata delle Marmore (Marmore's Falls) is an artificial
waterfall created by the ancient
Romans. Its total height is 165 m (514 feet), making it one of the
tallest in
Europe. Of its 3 sections, the top one is the tallest, at 83 m (272
feet).
It is located 7.7 km from
Terni, a
provincial capital of the Italian region of
Umbria.
Its source is a portion of the waters of the river
Velino (the rest of the river flows into a hydroelectric power
plant), after flowing through
Piediluco lake near the community of
Marmore. It pours into the valley below formed by the river
Nera.
Its flow is turned on and off according to a published
schedule, to satisfy the needs of tourists and the power company
alike. Tourists try to be there the moment the gates are opened, to see
the sudden, powerful rush of water.
The falls today
Most of the time, the water in the canals above the falls is diverted
to a hydroelectric power plant, so the flow in the falls themselves is
reduced to the level of a creek. Piediluco Lake, above the falls, is
used as a reservoir for the power plant. The
Galleto power plant, built in
1929 is
architecturally interesting.
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Its capacity is about 530 MW. To control
the operation of the power plant, and to satisfy tourists, the fall is
turned on according to a set schedule, achieving a spectacular effect at
full flow. An alarm is sounded first, then the gates are opened, and in
a few minutes the small creek is transformed into a full sized river
rushing into the void below.
Normally, the fall is turned on between noon and 1:00 PM and again
between 4:00 and 5:00 PM every day, with additional times on holidays.
An entrance fee is charged to visit the falls and the surrounding area.
A path along the falls allows the visitor to hike up to the top of
the falls. Along the way, a tunnel leads to an observatory just next to
the falls, where a visitor is guaranteed to get soaked. A safer
observatory near the top affords a grandiose view of the falls and of
the Nera valley below.
History
The Velino river flows through the highlands that surround the city
of Rieti. In ancient times, it fed a wetland that was thought to bring
illness (probably malaria).
To remove that threat to the city of Rieti, in 271 BC,
the
Roman consul
Manlius Curius Dentatus ordered the construction of a canal (the
Curiano Trench) to divert the stagnant waters into the natural cliff
at Marmore. From there, the water fell into the Nera river below.
However, that solution created a different problem: when the Velino
river was in flood stage, its water flowed through the Nera towards the
city of Terni, threatening its population.
The issue was so contentious
between the two cities, that the Roman Senate was forced to address it
in 54 BC.
Cicero
represented Terni, and Aulus Pompeius represented Rieti. Yet, nothing was done about it,
and things remained the same for centuries.
Lack of maintenance in the canal resulted in a decrease of the flow,
until eventually the wetland began to reappear. In
1422,
Pope Gregory XII ordered the construction of a new canal to restore
the original flow (the Gregorian Trench or Rieti Trench).
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In 1545,
Pope Paul III ordered that a new canal be built (the Pauline
Trench). The plan was to expand the Curian Trench, and to build a
regulating valve to control the flow. Upon its completion some 50 years
later (in 1598),
Pope Clement VIII inaugurated the new work, and named it after
himself: the Clementine Trench.
In the following two centuries, the presence of the canal was
problematic for the countryside in the valley below, as the Nera often
flooded it. In
1787,
Pope Pius VI ordered work to be done on the leaps below the falls,
giving it its present look, and finally resolving the majority of these
problems.
In the 1896,
the newly formed steel mills in Terni began using the water flow in the
Curiano Trench to power their operation. In the following years,
engineers began using the water flow to generate electricity.
Useful Links
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Wikipedia
(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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