Ticino

Course

The Ticino arises from the many torrents that drain the mountain flanks on the eastern side of Nufenen Pass in the upper Val Bedretto. From here, the river flows to the north-east through the Val Bedretto to Airolo (1,127 metres (3,698 ft)) where the south ramp of the St Gotthard Pass and south portals of both the Gotthard Railway Tunnel and the Gotthard Road Tunnel are located. Then it turns slowly to the southeast while entering the Valle Leventina. In the Leventina, the Ticino flows through three terrain steps separated by two narrow gorges (Gola di Monte Piottino and Biaschina) and finally reaches the canton's floor near Bodio at around 320 metres (1,050 feet).

History

The legendary Gallic leader Bellovesus was said to have defeated the Etruscans here in circa 600 BC. Ticino was the location of the Battle of Ticinus, the first battle of the Second Punic War fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and the Romans under Publius Cornelius Scipio in November 218 BC.

In the Middle Ages Pavia (first capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards and then of the kingdom of Italy) was, thanks to the waters of the Ticino, a fundamental hub for communications and trade between Venice and the Po valley. Furthermore, still in Pavia, there was the only brick bridge (ponte Coperto) which until the 19th century crossed the Ticino from Lake Maggiore to the Po.

Towns and tributaries

Val Bedretto, a narrow alpine valley named after the village of Bedretto, culminates in Nufenen Pass, (Italian: Passo della Novena, German: Nufenen Pass), at 2,478 m (8,130 ft) located between Pizzo Gallina (north, 3,060 m (10,040 ft)) and Nufenenstock (south, 2,865 m (9,400 ft)). The road up the valley is fairly straight until it approaches the pass, where the nine hairpin turns start.

The Ticino originates on both sides, north and south, of the Nufenenstock: A smaller tributary originates from a small mountain lake south of the Nufenenstock and north of the Piccolo Corno Gries (2,928 m (9,606 ft)) below the Passo del Corno at 2,484 m (8,150 ft) in the short valley of the same name.