Documents for "Italian Physical Geography":

• Adda river, 194 mi (312 km) long, rising in the Rhaetian Alps, N Italy, and flowing SW through Lake Como, then S into the Po River near Cremona. Its upper course furnishes much electric power; the...

• Adige second longest river of Italy, c.225 mi (360 km) long, rising in the Tyrolean Alps, N Italy. It flows generally south, past Bolzano, Trent, and Verona, to the Po valley where it turns east to...

• Albano, Lake crater lake, 2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), central Italy, in the Alban Hills SE of Rome. It is c.6 mi (9.7 km) in circumference and c.560 ft (170 m) deep. An underground tunnel built in the 4th cent. BC is...

• Aniene Lat. Anio, river, 61 mi (98 km) long, rising in Latium, central Italy, and flowing generally southwest to empty into the Tiber River near Rome. Two aqueducts have carried water from the Aniene to Rome since...

• Anio river: see Aniene.

• Apennines Ital. Appennino, mountain system, running the entire length of the Italian peninsula. It extends south c.840 mi (1,350 km) from the Cadibona Pass in Liguria, NW Italy, where the Apennines join with the Ligurian...

• Arno river, c.150 mi (240 km) long, rising in the Northern Apennines, Tuscany, central Italy, and flowing south to Arezzo where it turns northwest; it proceeds generally west, through Florence and Pisa,...

• Averno anc. Avernus [Gr.,=without bird], small crater lake,.6 mi (.9 km) wide, Campania, S Italy, between Cuma and Puteoli, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its intense sulfuric vapors, caused by volcanic activity (now...

• Bargello 13th-century palace in Florence, Italy, which houses the national museum. Once the residence of the highest city official, but later used as a prison and as the office of the chief of police ( bargello ), it was restored in 1859 to receive the art treasures of the city. The Bargello is famous for its courtyard and its Renaissance sculptures, including works by Michelangelo, Verrocchio, Donatello,...

• Borghese Villa bōrgā´zā vēl´lä or Villa Umberto I , summer palace built by Scipione Cardinal Borghese outside the Porta del Popolo, Rome. Begun in 1605, the villa was transformed in the 18th cent. into a more elaborate edifice. In 1806 it yielded...

• Borromean Islands see Maggiore, Lago , Italy.

• Caelian hill: see Rome before Augustus under Rome.

• Castel Sant' Angelo Hadrian's Mausoleum, or Hadrian's Mole, massive round construction on the right bank of the Tiber in Rome. Originally built (AD 135-39) by Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his successors, it was later decorated and fortified as a place of refuge for the popes and was connected to the Vatican by a secret passage. It was used as a fortress and prison...

• Caudine Forks narrow passes in the Southern Apennines, S Italy, on the road from Capua to Benevento. There, in 321 BC, the Samnites routed a Roman army.

• Certosa di Pavia former Carthusian abbey of Pavia. One of the most magnificent of all monastic structures, it has been maintained as a national monument since 1866. The church, forming its nucleus, was begun in...

• Chianti, Monti small range of the Apennines, c.15 mi (25 km) long, in Tuscany, central Italy, W of the Arno River; rises to c.3,000 ft (915 m). The celebrated Chianti wines are produced on its slopes.

• Coliseum see Colosseum.

• Colosseum or Coliseum , Ital. Colosseo, common name of the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome, near the southeast end of the Forum, between the Palatine and Esquiline hills. Begun by Vespasian, c.AD 75, and completed by his son Titus in AD 80,...

• Como, Lake Ital. Lago di Como or Lario, c.56 sq mi (145 sq km), 30 mi (48 km) long and from 1/2 to 2 1/2 mi (0.8-4 km) wide, in Lombardy, N Italy. Lake Como is a natural widening of the Adda River, which feeds and drains the lake. Situated in the foothills of the Alps, the lake is one of the most...

• Corno, Monte highest peak of the Apennines, c.9,560 ft (2,910 m) high, in the Gran Sasso d'ltalia range, Abruzzi, central Italy. It is snowcapped for most of the year.

• Dolomites or Dolomite Alps, Alpine group, N Italy, between the Isarco and Piave rivers, named for the dolomitic limestone of which it is composed. Famous for their strikingly bold outline (a stairstep effect created by...

• Etna or Aetna , volcano, 10,958 ft (3,340 m) high, on the east coast of Sicily, S Italy. It is the highest active volcano in Europe. The shape and height of its central cone have often been changed by eruptions...

• Farnese Palace in Rome, designed by Antonio da Sangallo (see under Sangallo ) for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (Pope Paul III). It was begun before 1514 and, after the architect's death, was continued by Michelangelo and completed by Giacomo della Porta. Built of huge blocks...

• Farnesina villa in Rome, Italy, built (1508-11) by Peruzzi for the banker Agostino Chigi at the foot of the Janiculum on the right bank of the Tiber. One of the finest examples of Italian Renaissance architecture, it is famous for its frescoes by Raphael...

• Garda, Lake Ital. Lago di Garda or Benaco, largest lake of Italy, 143 sq mi (370 sq km), between Lombardy and Venetia, N Italy. It is c.32 mi (52 km) long, with a maximum width of c.11 mi (18 km). The northern tip, with Riva di Trento, is...

• Gardena, Val Alpine valley, c.15 mi (25 km) long, in the Dolomites, Trentino-Alto Adige, N Italy. Its scenery attracts many tourists. Ortisei is the best-known resort.

• Garigliano lower part of the Liri River, S central Italy, below its junction with the Rapido, or Gari, River (hence Gari-Liriano) near Cassino. It separates Latium from Campania and empties into the...

• Gran Paradiso mountain, 13,323 ft (4,061 m) high, in Valle d'Aosta, NW Italy. In the Graian Alps, it is the highest Alpine peak entirely in Italian territory.

• Gran Sasso d'Italia mountain group of the central Apennines, in Abruzzi, central Italy. It rises to c.9,560 ft (2,914 m) in Monte Corno, the highest peak in the Apennines. Campo Imperatore, a mountaineering and...

• Great Saint Bernard pass: see Saint Bernard.

• Hadrian's Mausoleum or Hadrian's Mole: see Castel Sant' Angelo.

• Lateran name applied to a group of buildings of SE Rome facing the Piazza San Giovanni. They are on land once belonging to the Laterani; it was presented to the Church by Constantine. The Lateran basilica...

• Liri river, 98 mi (158 km) long, rising in the Apennines, in Latium, central Italy, and flowing generally SE to the Tyrrhenian Sea. Below its junction with the Rapido River near Cassino it is called...

• Little Saint Bernard pass: see Saint Bernard.

• Maggiore, Lago or Verbano , second largest lake in Italy, 82 sq mi (212 sq km), in the Alpine foothills of Piedmont and Lombardy. The lake is c.40 mi (65 km) long and has a maximum depth of c.1,220 ft (370 m). It is formed...

• Marmolada peak, Italy: see Dolomites.

• Metauro river of the Marches, c.68 mi (110 km) long, rising in the Etruscan Apennines, central Italy, from a double source (the Meta and the Auro) and flowing NE into the Adriatic Sea near Fano. On its...

• Mezzogiorno region of S Italy. The Mezzogiorno comprises the modern Italian regions of Abruzzi , Campania , Molise , Puglia, Basilicata , Calabria , and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. The term Mezzogiorno, meaning midday in Italian, is a reference to the strength of the midday sun in S Italy. The Appenine mountain system is a pervasive feature throughout S Italy. Steep slopes...

• Mincio river, c.47 mi (76 km) long, in Lombardy, N Italy. It flows generally south from the southern end of Lake Garda through Mantua (where it forms three lakes) to the Po River. Above Lake Garda it is...

• Monviso see Viso, Monte.

• Nemi, Lake Latin Nemorensis lacus, small, picturesque crater lake, c.1 mi (1.6 km) long, in the Alban Hills, central Italy, SE of Rome. The sacred wood and the ruins of the celebrated temple of Diana are there. Two pleasure ships of the Roman emperor Caligula that were lying at the bottom of Lake Nemi for almost 2,000 years were raised (1930-31) from the lake after its level had been lowered...

• Ortles range of the Ötztal Alps, in Trentino-Alto Adige, N Italy. It has many glaciers. Ortles peak, 12,792 ft (3,899 m) high, the highest peak, was first ascended in 1804.

• Padus see Po , river.

• pantheon term applied originally to a temple to all the gods. The Pantheon at Rome was built by Agrippa in 27 BC, destroyed, and rebuilt in the 2d cent. by Hadrian. Remarkably well preserved, it is mainly of brick with a great hemispherical dome whose supporting walls are...

• Piave river, c.137 mi (220 km) long, rising in the Carnic Alps, Venetia, NE Italy, and flowing generally S, past Belluno, to the Gulf of Venice. The upper Piave basin is subject to severe seasonal...

• Po Latin Padus, longest river of Italy, c.405 mi (650 km) long, rising in the Cottian Alps of Piedmont, NW Italy. It winds generally east in a wide valley, past Turin, Pavia, Piacenza, Cremona, and Ferrara, to...

• Pontine Marshes Ital. Pontina, low-lying region, c.300 sq mi (780 sq km), in S Latium, central Italy, between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Apennine foothills; it is crossed by drainage canals. The Appian Way, a Roman-built road,...

• Posillipo volcanic ridge, in Campania, S Italy, projecting into the northern part of the Bay of Naples. The town of Posillipo, a picturesque suburb of Naples, has interesting ruins of Roman villas.

• Saint Bernard two Alpine passes, both used since antiquity. The Great Saint Bernard (alt. 8,110 ft/2,472 m), on the Italian-Swiss border, links Valais canton, Switzerland, with Valle d'Aosta, Italy. Frequented by the Gauls and Romans, the pass also was crossed by Charlemagne,...

• Saint Mark's Church Venice, named after the tutelary saint of Venice. The original Romanesque basilical church, built in the 9th cent. as a shrine for the saint's bones, was destroyed by fire in 967. Byzantine...

• Saint Peter's Church Vatican City, principal and one of the largest churches of the Christian world. The present structure was built mainly between 1506 and 1626 on the original site of the Vatican cemetery and an...

• Soracte isolated mountain, 2,267 ft (691 m) high, in Latium, central Italy, N of Rome. It was celebrated in the poetry of Vergil and Horace. In ancient times it was crowned with a temple of Apollo; there...

• Spartivento, Cape southeastern extremity of the "toe" of Italy, in Calabria, extending into the Ionian Sea.

• Stelvio Pass alt. 9,048 ft (2,758 m), in the central Alps, N Italy, near the Swiss and Austrian borders. It is crossed by the highest road in the Alps, connecting the Valtellina with the upper Adige River...

• Tevere river: see Tiber.

• Tiber Ital. Tevere, Latin Tiberis, river, 251 mi (404 km) long, rising in the Etruscan Apennines, central Italy. It flows generally S across Tuscany, Umbria, and N Latium, then SW through Rome to empty into the Tyrrhenian Sea by two...

• Ticino Lat. Ticinus, river, 154 mi (248 km) long, rising in Ticino canton, S Switzerland, and flowing generally S through Lago Maggiore into N Italy, joining the Po River below Pavia. In Switzerland, the Ticino is used...

• Trasimeno Lat. Trasimenus, lake, c.50 sq mi (130 sq km), in Umbria, central Italy, W of Perugia. It is also called Lake of Perugia. The shallow circular lake (max. depth 19 ft/6 m) often floods its shores, which are sparsely...

• Trebbia river, c.70 mi (110 km) long, rising in the Ligurian Apennines, N Italy, and flowing generally NE past Bobbio to join the Po River near Piacenza. Near that city in 218 BC Hannibal won a decisive...

• Vaiont Dam 858 ft (262 m) high, on the Vaiont River, a tributary of the Piave River, in Venetia, NE Italy, near Belluno. Vaiont Dam, one of the highest in the world, was completed in 1961 and is used to...

• Verbano see Maggiore, Lago.

• Vesuvius Ital. Vesuvio, only active volcano on the European mainland, S Italy, on the eastern shore of the Bay of Naples, SE of Naples. The height of the main cone changes with each eruption, varying within a few hundred...

• Villa d'Este name of two famous villas in Italy. One lies near Tivoli, c.20 mi (30 km) E of Rome. Built in 1550 by Pirro Ligorio for Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este, it is decorated with paintings and statues and...

• Villa Doria Pamphili Roman villa, built in the 17th cent. for Camillo Pamphili, nephew of Pope Innocent X, from plans designed by Alessandro Algardi. It was situated against the western walls of Rome near the San...

• Villa Umberto I see Borghese Villa.

• Viso, Monte or Monviso , peak, 12,602 ft (3,841 m) high, on the French-Italian border; highest of the Cottian Alps. The Po River rises there.

• Volturno chief river of S Italy, 109 mi (175 km) long, rising in the Apennines of Molise and flowing SE, then SW through Campania, past Capua, to the Tyrrhenian Sea. On its banks Guiseppe Garibaldi...

• Zillertal Alps range of the E Alps astride the Austro-Italian border and extending 35 mi (56 km) NE into the Tyrol. The range rises to 11,555 ft (3,522 m) in the Hockfeiler, on the international line. The...