River in France, Italy
The
Dora Riparia
(
Italian:
[?d?ːra
ri?paːrja]
;
Piedmontese
:
Doira Rivaira
;
French
:
Doire Ripaire
or
Doire
;
[1]
Latin
:
Duria minor
) is an alpine river, a left-bank tributary of the
Po
. It is 125 kilometres (78 mi) long (of which 5 km is in France),
[1]
with a 1,231 square kilometres (475 sq mi)
drainage basin
. It originates in the
Cottian Alps
, close to the
Col de Montgenevre
in France, where it is called the Piccola Dora. Its name becomes the Dora Riparia after the confluence with the Ripa in the Argentera Valley and the Thuras de Bousson close to
Cesana
.
Further down the valley, in
Oulx
, the river grows thanks to its main upper tributary, the
Dora di Bardonecchia
, and before
Susa
is augmented by the Galambra and
Cenischia
. After Susa, it only receives minor tributaries: from the left, Gravio by
Condove
, Sessi by
Caprie
, and Messa by
Almese
, from the right Scaglione by
Meana
and Gravio by
Villar Focchiardo
. It runs through the
Susa Valley
, and after having crossed part of the plain of the Po and the territories of the comunes of
Avigliana
,
Alpignano
,
Pianezza
and
Collegno
, joins the Po at
Turin
. It is considered a "stream" (
torrente
) until Susa, and a river (
fiume
) to Turin.
It was at the confluence of the Dora Riparia and the Po that present-day Turin was founded in
Roman
times. Dora Riparia was there for a long time the main source of energy: already in medieval times its water was collected in
canals
(
duriae
) that drove
mills
,
water wheels
and other contraptions. In the area between the confluence of Dora Riparia and
Stura
in the Po, where before the destruction caused by the
Battle of Turin
in 1706 one could find the
Regio
park, lies today the
Parco della Colletta
. One of the bridges spanning the river at Turin is
Ponte Mosca
.
In the 20th century,
industrial
and
urban
development significantly degenerated environmental conditions in the river; renovation work did not start until the 1990s. In 1999, the environmental protection agency
ARPA
(the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection) conducted a study of the entire Dora Riparia and the river
Sangone
, revealing a condition of serious pollution. Then, in 2002, the agro-natural park of Dora Riparia was born, financed by the comune of Collegno and the region of Po, to preserve the natural habitat, but also to integrate agricultural and river area.
References
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