Po

Po (anc. Eridanus and Padus), the largest river of Italy, rises on Monte Viso, one of the Cottian Alps, at an altitude of 6405 feet, close to the French frontier. It flows eastward for upwards of 20 miles, when, arriving before Saluzzo, it emerges from its rocky defiles and enters upon the plain. From Saluzzo it flows north-north-east past Turin to Chivasso; there it changes its course toward the east, in which direction it flows to its embouchure in the Adriatic. Upwards of 55 miles from its mouth, above Ferrara, it begins to form its delta, 60 miles wide from north to south. The delta is growing rapidly in area. Ravenna, a city once on the seashore, now stands 4 miles inland. The Po receives from the left the Ticino, Adda, Mincio, and other streams, and from the right the Trebbia and others. It has an entire length of 360 miles, and drains an area of nearly 28,900 sq. m. Below Piacenza its stream has from pre-Roman days been embanked—in some places with double embankments; and the bed is now high above the plain. It has always been difficult to cross, owing to its width and, still more, the great volume of its waters; hence the strategic and commercial importance of such places as Piacenza and Turin, where the easiest fords are.