What Is Italy's Most Important Waterway?

The Po River is the most important waterway in Italy. It is the country’s largest river, running for 405 miles from the Alps in northwestern Italy east through the regions of Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and the Veneto, and into the Adriatic Sea. The Po is at the center of an expansive fertile plain that is home to more than a quarter of Italy’s population. The river has historically been important for agriculture, fishing, and transport since well before the days of the Roman Empire.

Outline of the Po River

• The Po River begins below the 12,600-foot peak of Monviso in the Cottian Alps that separate France and Italy. From its origins southwest of Turin, the river descends rapidly, some 5,500 feet in just over 20 miles. It then turns northward to Turin and from there, runs generally eastward for about 350 miles, and eventually into a delta featuring 14 mouths at the Adriatic Sea. Of its 141 tributaries, the main ones include the rivers Tanaro, Scrivia, Trebbia, Secchia and Panaro from the Appennines in the south, and the Dora Baltea, Sessia, Ticino, Adda, Oglio and Mincio from the Alps to the north. East of Turin, the river’s meanderings – which have included many severe floods throughout recorded history – have left islands and oxbows, u-shaped bends, along the way.

Cities Along the Po River

• Several important cities lie on or near the banks of the Po River. The first is Turin. The capital of the Piedmont region, it is home of much of Italy’s car industry, and also its most famous and popular soccer team, Juventus. Lying just over 70 miles due east is Pavia, which sits north of the confluence of the Po and Ticino. It is a provincial capital for a major agricultural and wine area. Downriver about 30 miles is Piacenza. As the river jags a slight bit north, Cremona lies 27 miles east from Piacenza, a city best known for its famous violin makers, including Stradivarius. The last is Ferrara, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for its impressive, intact Renaissance city core.

Navigation

• The Po River provides the most significant inland navigation network in Italy. It has even connected Milan, through Pavia, to the sea. Although it is of much less importance today, commercial navigation still exists on the Po for smaller vessels from west of Cremona to the Adriatic Sea, about 180 miles.

Agriculture Near the Po River

• The Po River gives it name to the largest plain in Italy: the very fertile Po River Valley. Its breadth and productivity are at the core of the prosperity of the northern Italian regions. Protected from the harshest of the cold winter weather by the Alps to the north, the tributaries of the Po help provide continued richness to the soil of the area from the mineral-laden mountains. The irrigated plains of the Po River Valley produce large amounts of rice, wheat, corn, sugar beets, and fodder for cattle.