THE RIVER PO

Po river (also called Eridanus by Greeks, though ancient people from Liguria called it Bodincus, meaning “with a deep bed, without bottom”, the ancient inhabitants of Latium called it Padus – hence the adjective “padano” – deriving from a variety of wild pine trees that surround the Po source) measures 652 km and it is the longest river in Italy among those flowing in their lenght in the Italian territory. Po has the widest basin and the one with the maximum flow at its mouth, whatever minimum (270 square metres per second), medium (1540 square metres per second) or maximum (13000 square metres per second). Po flows through most of the Northern Italy from West to East, and the Padana Valley. On its banks live 16 million people and more than a third of national agricultural industries are based there, just as more than a half of the Italian zootechnical heritage. All these aspects make Po and its basin a key point for the whole Italian economy and one of the most densely populated European areas with numerous factories and trade centres. The Po tract flowing on the side of Piacenza measures 100 km on a total of 678 km. More precisely, those 100 touch Piacenza on the right bank of this great river, which stretches from open plain to curve several times from Castel San Giovanni to Castelvetro. Po’s natural and environmental resources are numerous and fascinating, characterising the landscape with cane and willow thickets, misty woods, yellow water lilies and water chestnuts. Rich in fish varieties, it is also characterised by numerous species of birds and animals: for fish there is the bleak, most diffused in the area, tench, common carp, rudd, catfish, European perch and pike; for birds you might find the Night heron, little egret, Grey heron, nightingale, common moorhen, Great Reed Warbler. Again, the coot, mallard, little tern and the common Kingfisher. A real macrocosm extremely varied, forming an interesting ecosystem of a unique heritage that we will be able to preserve only by paying respect to the great Po river, a geographical borderline diversifying cultures and a common point of reference for the life of people in the Padana Valley.