Cover Photo: Italy by EventsPhoto: Wikipedia
Posted on 03/04/2024 5:02:43 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Approximately eight kilometers away from the town of Terni in Umbria, Italy, there is a waterfall that is one of the highest waterfalls in Europe: Cascata delle Marmore or the Marmore's Falls.
In reality, this waterfall is not natural. The waterfall is the world's tallest man-made waterfall, standing 541 feet tall (165 meters). Its towering presence is a 2,000-year-old testament to human engineering.
Romans created in 271 BC the former hydraulic system and the shape of the waterfall. During the Roman era, the River Velino had become vastly enlarged and had created a vast swathe of swamp-like, stagnant water. This unhealthy wetland brought disease to residents and caused a threat to the city of Rieti.
To fix the issue, Manlius Carius Dentatus, the Roman consul, ordered workers to construct a canal that would send the water soaring over a nearby cliff and down into the Nera River, which flowed through the valley below.
The stagnant water then fell into the Nera River but that unfortunately created another problem. When the Velino River overflowed, its water moved through the Nera and towards the city of Terni and threatened the safety of the residents.
The Roman senate was forced to step in over the escalating tensions over water management between the lowland and highland residents in 54 BC, despite the fact that their intervention ultimately achieved nothing.
For centuries, little was done to address the problem, which caused contention. It took two attempts to build new canals to address the problem of overflowing stagnant water, but it wasn't until 1787 that Pope Pius VI gave Andrea Vici, a prominent French-Italian architectural dynasty, the order to alter the canal, giving it the lofty, cascading appearance it has today and solving the issue at last.
(Excerpt) Read more at arkeonews.net ...
Wow
Wow, that is astonishing! Thanks for finding this one, SC!
Well don’t let CA gov grabem nuisance know.
That... is absolutely breathtaking.
Ceasar was in charge when this one was created.
:^)
So they killed the mountain people
And they took their just reward ...
unum stagni militis rides away.
CC
That’s beautiful.
My pleasure.
Bkmk
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