Arno

Arno, next to the Tiber the most considerable river of Central Italy, rises on Mount Falterona, an offset of the Apennines, at an elevation of 4444 feet above sea-level, and 25 miles N. of Arezzo. It flows 140 miles in a generally westward direction, till it falls into the sea, 11 miles below Pisa, where it once had its embouchure. At Florence it is 400 feet wide, but is fordable in summer; and so far, except in the summer, it is navigable for barges. The Italian poets speak of 'the golden Arno;' but, in truth, its waters have mostly the colour of café-au-lait. The Arno is noted for the rapid and destructive character of its inundations, the most memorable being those of 1537 and 1740.