The Mazaro (; sometimes spelt as ''Màzaro'') is a river in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, Italy. The Mazaro river flows across south-western Sicily, from its source in Rapicaldo, located within the Salemi city boundaries, to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Mazara del Vallo Mazara del Vallo (; is a city and in the province of Trapani, northwestern Sicily, Italy. It lies mainly on the left bank at the mouth of the Mazaro river. It is an agricultural and fishing centre and its port gives shelter to the largest fi ...

. Mazaro is a historically important river which has provided water and farming for the people living around it for centuries. The

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

and

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

used the river for water to supply their armies in Sicily. The river is

shallow Shallow may refer to: Places * Shallow (underwater relief), where the depth of the water is low compared to its surroundings * Shallow Bay (disambiguation), various places * Shallow Brook, New Jersey, United States * Shallow Inlet, Victoria ...

. It is connected to the

"Mad sea" phenomenon

The river is characterized by a periodical phenomenon locally known as ''marrobbio'' (also known in English as "mad sea"), which consist in rapid and dramatic sea level oscillations seemingly caused by sudden atmospheric pressure changes; similar phenomenons were observed only in a very few other places in the world, including

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

Bay in Japan (where the phenomenon is known as ''abiki'') and Ciutadella (in

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

, Spain, where it is called ''rissaga'').

References

Rivers of Italy Rivers of Sicily Mazara del Vallo Rivers of the Province of Trapani European drainage basins of the Mediterranean Sea {{Italy-river-stub