# Melfa

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melfa
> Source revision: 1288996517
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{{other uses}}
{{Infobox river
| name              = Melfa
| image             = Fiume Melfa.JPG
| image_size        = 
| image_alt         = 
| image_caption     = The Melfa near [Picinisco](/source/Picinisco)
| map               = 
| map_size          = 
| map_alt           = 
| map_caption       = 
| name_native       = 
| name_native_lang  = 
| name_other        = 
| source1_location  = Madonna di Canneto, [Settefrati](/source/Settefrati)
| mouth             = [Liri](/source/Liri)
| mouth_location    = 
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|41.500|13.594|region:IT|display=inline,title}}
| progression       = [Liri](/source/Liri)→ {{RGarigliano}}
| location          = 
| etymology         = 
| length_km = 40
| source1_elevation = {{convert|1020|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| mouth_elevation   =
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| tributaries_left  = 
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}}

The '''Melfa'''<ref>Il Melfa, but la Melfa in the popular speech of the Valle di Comino.</ref> is a [river](/source/Rivers_of_Italy) in [Lazio](/source/Lazio), Italy. It rises in the [Monti della Meta](/source/Monti_della_Meta), flows south-west for about {{convert|40|km|mi}} and joins the [Liri](/source/Liri) near [San Giovanni Incarico](/source/San_Giovanni_Incarico).<ref name=map>''Carta stradale: Lazio 1:200000''. Istituto Geografico DeAgostini. {{ISBN|9788851107338}}.</ref>

The source of the Melfa issues from a high limestone chimney in the [Valle di Canneto](/source/Valle_di_Canneto) at an elevation of {{convert|1020|m|ft}} in the Lazio watershed of the [Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise](/source/Parco_Nazionale_d'Abruzzo%2C_Lazio_e_Molise) beneath the Massiccio del Meta, in the territory of [Settefrati](/source/Settefrati). The source has been linked in local legend and popular devotion since Antiquity. In a series of rapids and cascades, it descends the Valle di Comino, passing through [Picinisco](/source/Picinisco), [Atina](/source/Atina%2C_Lazio)— where it receives the waters of the little Mollarino— [Casalattico](/source/Casalattico) and [Casalvieri](/source/Casalvieri). Below Casalvieri it passes for 15&nbsp;km through a deep gorge in the foothills of [Monte Cairo](/source/Monte_Cairo) at the end of which it reaches the Liri, near [Roccasecca](/source/Roccasecca).

The Melfa is noted by [Strabo](/source/Strabo)<ref>Strabo, ''Geography'' V.3.9.</ref> as a "large river" flowing near the city of [Aquinum/Aquino](/source/Aquino%2C_Italy). The origin of the name is obscure, perhaps to be associated with the goddess [Mefitis](/source/Mefitis), worshipped in a sanctuary uncovered in 1958 at the place called Capodaqua, right below the source. Other [toponym](/source/toponym)s from the same root include the locality Melfi a Pontecorvo, also near the Liri, seat of an ancient cult of [John the Baptist](/source/John_the_Baptist); the city of [Melfi](/source/Melfi) and [Molfetta](/source/Molfetta), anciently Melficta; Melpum in the central Paduan plain, perhaps also [Amalfi](/source/Amalfi); in [Lucania](/source/Lucania) the [hydronym](/source/hydronym) Melpes is found.<ref>''Dizionario di toponomastica'' (Turin:Utet), (1992) 1997.</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melfa}}
Category:Rivers of Italy
Category:Rivers of the Province of Frosinone

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Melfa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melfa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melfa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.