The Melfa is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...
in
Lazio
it, Laziale
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, Italy. It rises in the
Monti della Meta
The Monti della Meta are a massif of central Italy located around the junction point of the boundaries between the regions of Lazio, Abruzzo and Molise. The major of three massifs of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, they take the ...
, flows south-west for about and joins the
Liri
The Liri (Latin Liris or Lyris, previously, Clanis; Greek: ) is one of the principal rivers of central Italy, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea a little below Minturno under the name Garigliano.
Source and route
The Liri's source is in the Mon ...
near
San Giovanni Incarico.
[''Carta stradale: Lazio 1:200000''. Istituto Geografico DeAgostini. .]
The source of the Melfa issues from a high limestone chimney in the
Valle di Canneto at an elevation of in the Lazio watershed of the
Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise beneath the Massiccio del Meta, in the territory of
Settefrati. The source has been linked in local legend and popular devotion since Antiquity. In a series of rapids and cascades, it descends the Valle di Comino, passing through
Picinisco,
Atina— where it receives the waters of the little Mollarino—
Casalattico and
Casalvieri. Below Casalvieri it passes for 15 km through a deep gorge in the foothills of
Monte Cairo at the end of which it reaches the Liri, near
Roccasecca
Roccasecca is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is the birthplace of Thomas Aquinas.
History
The history of Roccasecca is tightly bound to its strategic position, a "dry '' rocca''" at ...
.
The Melfa is noted by
Strabo as a "large river" flowing near the city of
Aquinum/Aquino. The origin of the name is obscure, perhaps to be associated with the goddess
Mefitis, worshipped in a sanctuary uncovered in 1958 at the place called Capodaqua, right below the source. Other
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name o ...
s from the same root include the locality Melfi a Pontecorvo, also near the Liri, seat of an ancient cult of
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
; the city of
Melfi and
Molfetta, anciently Melficta; Melpum in the central Paduan plain, perhaps also
Amalfi
Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...
; in
Lucania
Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto.
It bordered with Samnium and Campania in the north, Apulia in the east, and Bru ...
the
hydronym
A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a ...
Melpes is found.
[''Dizionario di toponomastica'' (Turin:Utet), (1992) 1997.]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melfa
Rivers of Italy
Rivers of the Province of Frosinone