The Coscile is a river in Calabria,

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

. In

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations ...

it was known as the Sibarys (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ) and gave its name to the Ancient Greek city. It is the third-largest river in the region in terms of water discharge and extent of its basin after the

Crati The Crati is a river in Calabria, southern Italy. It is the largest river of Calabria and the third largest river of southern Italy after the Volturno and the Sele. In classical antiquity it was known as the Crathis or Crater (Greek: ). Geogra ...

and

Neto Neto may refer to: General * Neto (deity), an Iberian god *Neto (suffix), a name suffix distinguishing a man from his grandfather (including a list of people with the name) * Neto 1, a human gene Places *Agostinho Neto Airport, an airport in Cap ...

. It is the main left tributary of the Crati.

Geography

The river is about 50 kilometers long and has a large basin of approximately 950 km. It collects the waters of many springs at the foot of the

Pollino The Pollino (Italian: ''Massiccio del Pollino'') is a massif in the southern Apennines, on the border between Basilicata and Calabria, southern Italy. It became part of the Pollino National Park in 1992. The main peaks include Monte Pollino (2,2 ...

massif and the Serra Dolcedorme through the tributaries Esaro, Tiro and Garga. Initially its course is towards the south-east through the plain of

Sibari Sibari is an Italian ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Cassano allo Ionio. It lies in the province of Cosenza which is part of the region Calabria. Geography It is located close to the Gulf of Taranto and the archaeological ...

, but changes to an eastern direction after its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river ( main stem); ...

with the Esaro river. The Esaro is its main tributary which almost triples its discharge. The river then feeds into the Crati just east of Apollinara, a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' in the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

'' of

Corigliano Calabro Corigliano Calabro is a town and a ''frazione'' of Corigliano-Rossano located in the province of Cosenza, c. 40 km northeast of the city of Cosenza, in Calabria, southern Italy. Geography It is situated near the mouth of a river of the same ...

. The river is crossed in several places by the

A2 motorway This is a list of roads designated A2. Roads entries are sorted alphabetically by country. * A2 motorway (Albania), a road connecting Vlore with Fier * A002 road (Argentina), a road connecting Avenida General Paz and Ministro Pistarini Internat ...

from

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated pop ...

from the pass of Campotenese (at an elevation of 1000 meters), a ''frazione'' of

Morano Calabro Morano Calabro ( Moranese: ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It was the birthplace of mathematician Gaetano Scorza. Geography The municipality borders with Castrovillari (the nea ...

, to Castrovillari. Near Spezzano Albanese the river is also crossed by the railway line from

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

to Sibari.

Hydrology

Due to its various sources and especially the rich supply of the Esaro, the river is the third river of Calabria in terms of discharge with 14 m/s average annual flow. The importance of its basin area is demonstrated by the presence of three

Enel Enel S.p.A. is an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel, which originally stood for Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica (National Electricity Board), was first established as a public body at the ...

power plants. It is a seasonal river with strong winter runoff and a lower discharge in summer, pouring 5 m/s in the Crati during August.

History

The Greek geographer Strabo claimed that Greek colonists named the river Sybaris after a spring of the same name at

Bura Bura may refer to: Places * Bura (Achaea), a city in Greece * Boura, Burkina Faso (disambiguation), also spelled Bura * Bura, Iran (disambiguation) * Bura, Taita-Taveta District, Kenya * Bura, Tana River District, Kenya People and civilizatio ...

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. T ...

. He also alleges that its water made the horses who drank it shy, which is why all herds were kept away from it. In the time of Sybaris the Coscile was not a tributary of the Crati but pursued a direct course to the Gulf of Taranto. It probably followed a course at a short distance to the north of Sybaris.

References

{{Reflist, refs= Strabo, ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman ...

'
8.7.5
/ref> Strabo, ''Geographica'
6.1.13

Pseudo-Aristotle Pseudo-Aristotle is a general cognomen for authors of philosophical or medical treatises who attributed their work to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, or whose work was later attributed to him by others. Such falsely attributed works are known as ps ...

, ''

De mirabilibus auscultationibus ''On Marvellous Things Heard'' ( grc-gre, Περὶ θαυμασίων ἀκουσμάτων; Latin: ''De mirabilibus auscultationibus'') is a collection of thematically arranged anecdotes traditionally attributed to Aristotle but written by a Pse ...

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169
/ref> {{cite journal, last1=Stanley, first1=Jean-Daniel, last2=Bernasconi, first2=Maria Pia, title=Sybaris-Thuri-Copia trilogy: three delta coastal sites become land-locked, journal=Méditerranée, year=2009, issue=112, url=http://mediterranee.revues.org/pdf/3190, access-date=2013-01-12, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813025319/http://mediterranee.revues.org/pdf/3190, archive-date=2014-08-13, url-status=dead Rivers of the Province of Cosenza Rivers of Italy