The Tidone is a

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 ...

in the

Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Emilia Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 million. Emilia-Romagna is one of ...

in northern

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 ...

. It is a right-bank tributary of the

Po River The Po ( , ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy, starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is , or if the Maira (river), Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. The headwaters of the Po are forme ...

. The stream rises in the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

near Monte Penice and flows in a northerly direction into the Po.

Geography

The Tidone's sources are on the northern slope of Monte Penice at an altitude of over in the

in the municipality of

Menconico Menconico is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 70 km south of Milan and about 45 km south of Pavia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 465 and an area of 28.2&nb ...

. The river flows down a narrow mountain valley called ''Val Tidone''. The upper reaches of the stream are located in the

Province of Pavia The province of Pavia () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is Pavia. , the province has a population of 548,722 inhabitants and an area of ; the town of Pavia has a population of 72,205. History T ...

while the middle and lower course is in the

Province of Piacenza The province of Piacenza () is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Piacenza. As of 2016, it has a total population of 286,572 inhabitants over an area of , giving it a population density of 111.38 ...

. The village of

Romagnese Romagnese is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 70 km south of Milan and about 40 km southeast of Pavia. Romagnese borders the following municipalities: Alta Val Tidone, Bo ...

is found in the upper part of the valley. Near the town of Nibbiano the Tidone flows into the Lago di Trebecco which is formed by a dam built in the 1920s. The reservoir is used for irrigation and the dam produces a modest amount of electricity. The Tidone leaves the foothills near Pianello Val Tidone and enters the flat Po plains. The stream flows into the Po west of

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

between the towns of Sarmato on the west and Rottofreno on the east. The affluents of the Tidone are mountain streams called the Morcione, Tidoncello, Chiarone and Luretta. The

Trebbia The Trebbia (stressed ''Trèbbia''; ) is a river predominantly of Liguria and Emilia Romagna in northern Italy. It is one of the four main right-bank tributaries of the river Po, the other three being the Tanaro, the Secchia and the Panaro. ...

River is the next major river to the east.

History

The Battle of Trebbia was fought near the lower course of the Tidone when

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

defeated a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

army in 218 BC. The name dates from the battle when a Roman

centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

found the Tidone's waters to be clear and drinkable while the nearby Trebbia supposedly ran red with the blood of the battle's victims. In thanks to the river, the officer said ''O Valle ti dono questo anello; ti dono'' (I give). Also fought in the area was a second Battle of Trebbia in 1799 which pitted a Republican French army against

Alexander Suvorov Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy () was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire. Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian ...

's allied armies of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and Habsburg Austria. Fiume Tidone 1750

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Italy Rivers of the Province of Piacenza Rivers of the Province of Pavia Rivers of the Apennines

Geography

History

See also

References