The Senio () is a river of

Romagna Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, the final right-sided tributary of the river

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. The source of the river is in the

province of Florence The province of Florence () was a Provinces of Italy, province in the northeast of Tuscany region of Italy. The city or ''comune'' of Florence was both the capital of the province of Florence, and of the Region of Tuscany. It had an area of and ...

in the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano mountains. The river flows northeast into the

province of Ravenna The province of Ravenna (; ) is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ravenna. As of 2015, it has a population of 391,997 inhabitants over an area of , giving it a population density of 210.81 inhabitants pe ...

and flows near

Casola Valsenio Casola Valsenio () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ravenna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southwest of Ravenna. History The village was founded in 1216 after the Casola castle ...

Riolo Terme Riolo Terme ( or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ravenna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southwest of Ravenna. The main attraction of the town are the termal baths. History U ...

Castel Bolognese Castel Bolognese () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ravenna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southwest of Ravenna. As of 2006, it has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants. Ca ...

Cotignola Cotignola () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ravenna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about west of Ravenna. Cotignola was the birthplace of the 15th century condottiero Muzio Attend ...

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

Bagnacavallo Bagnacavallo () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The Renaissance painter Bartolomeo Ramenghi bore the nickname of his native city. Main sights *''Castellaccio'' (15th century) * Giardino dei Semplici ...

Fusignano Fusignano () is a ''comune'' in the province of Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna) in Italy. It is located on the river Senio. History The city was created in 1250 by count Bernardino of Cunio after a flood which had destroyed his castle at Donigallia. Aft ...

and

Alfonsine Alfonsine ( or ''Agl'infulsèn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Ravenna in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. It is located east of Bologna and northwest of Ravenna. It is located between the Senio River and the Adriat ...

before entering the Reno. The river has a tributary called the Sintria that flows into it east of Riolo Terme. The river is along the road to

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

. The mean discharge at its mouth is about ; however this can vary from a minimum of to a maximum of .

World War Two

The area was the site of several hard-fought battles in the Spring of 1945, during the last phases of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Europe. The Allied crossing of the River Senio was one of the last hurdles that needed to be overcome in order to capture the great

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetian Plain, Venetic extension not actu ...

basin and so complete the campaign in Italy. The German defenders were mostly elite parachute units and, in the very last days of war in Europe, the British 8th Army took many casualties in effecting this defended river-crossing operation. It was also one of the landmarks of the

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

in the war. In a speech to the British Parliament concerning the Jewish Brigade's foiudation on 3 July 1944,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

pointed out that the

Liberation Day Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day, but differing from it because it does not involve the original creation of statehood. It commemorates the end of an occupation ...

would have come exactly 20 years after the

British Mandate-Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After an Arab uprising against the Ottoma ...

established in 1920 during the

San Remo conference The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council as an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference, held at Castle Devachan in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. The San Remo Resolution ...

. (with archivistic photos)

References

External links

* Rivers of the Metropolitan City of Florence Rivers of the Province of Ravenna Rivers of Italy {{Italy-river-stub