Weser watershed The Porta Westfalica (German pronunciation: �pɔʁta vɛstˈfaːlɪka, also known as the Westphalian Gap, is a

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

and water gap where the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

breaks through the passage between the mountain chains of the

Wiehen Hills The Wiehen HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . (, , also locally, just ''Wiehen'') are a hill range in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in Germany. The hills run from west to east like a long f ...

in the west and the Weser Hills (part of the Weser Uplands) in the east. It is located in the district of

Minden-Lübbecke Minden-Lübbecke is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northeastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Diepholz (district), Diepholz, Nienburg (district), Nienburg, Schaumburg, Lippe, Herford (district), Herford, Osnabr ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Since 1973, Porta Westfalica is also the name of a town, established by merging fifteen villages surrounding the gorge. Since 2006, it is a national geotope.Homepage of the City of Porta Westfalica
retrieved on 27. January 2011 The name "Porta Westfalica" is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

term that means "Gate to

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

". Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of Westphalia. Despite its Latin name, the term was not coined in

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

times, but by scholars in the 19th century. High above the gorge on the west side is a large six-sided stone structure that can be seen from a considerable distance; this is the Emperor William Monument, erected in honour of Emperor William I of Germany and dedicated in 1896.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Porta Westfalica (Gorge) Canyons and gorges of Germany Landforms of North Rhine-Westphalia Wiehen Hills Water gaps