Sorgenti del Timavo
Timavo Spring - Timavo Resurgence - Bocche del fiume Timavo
Useful Information
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| Image: the western spring. |
History
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| 178 BC | Aulio Manlio Vulsone started his war against the Istrians in the area of the springs. |
| 401 | the Visigoths led by Alarico entered Italy here and beat general Stilicone. |
| 1841 | Abisso di Trebiciano discovered. |
| ~1900 | connection proofed by dye tracing experiments. |
| World War I | important front between Italy and Austria. |
Description
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| Image: the church San Giovanni Timavo. |
The Sorgenti del Timavo (spring of the Timavo) are a famous place.
Located in an area, which was inhabited by man for millennia, the huge spring
always was an important place to collect drinking water.
The location, so close to the Mediterranean Sea made it very important for
ships, who used it to refill their water reserve.
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| Image: the middle spring. |
The spring is located in San Giovanni di Duino, at the Church of San Giovanni in
Tuba.
This church was built in the 15th century on the ruins of an early Christian
basilica.
The place was important during Roman times, when the Via Germana (German
road) which linked Aquileia to Trieste, passed through here.
When visiting the Timavo spring, follow the road SS 14 along the coast, from
Trieste north towards Aquileia.
There is a modern church with a campanile on the right side, then there is a
sign to the left for "Chiesa Gotica di San Giovanni Timavo" and right below a
sign to the "risorgive del Timavo/Timavski zliv".
So close at the Slowenian border, the signs are bilangual.
Turning left you will soon find a huge parking lot.
A path leads through shady trees to the gothic church.
The church is closed except for service, to protect the art inside.
The springs are open all the time, and definitely a pleasant place on a hot
summer day.
There are three springs, the eastern, middle and western spring.
The first two are huge turquoise pools, the eastern spring is covered by bushes.
The blueish colour of the water is typical for water with a high content of
limestone.
The earliest systematic exploration of the underground path of Timavo river were
made in the 19th century.
Water searchers looked for water and tried to solve one of the most fascinating
mysteries of hydrology.
Speleologists discovered and explored numerous caves, like the Abisso di
Trebiciano, the Grotta dei Morti (Grotto of the Deads), the Abisso
dei Serpenti (Serpents Abyss), and the
Škocjanske Jame.
At first the connection between Reka in Slovenia and the Timavo was only a guess,
just because Reka was the only big river entering the area.
But at the beginning of the 20th century the first dye tracing experiments
proofed the connection.
The tracers were dye, radioactive substances, and also eels.
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| Sorgenti del Timavo Gallery |
See also
Karst spring
)
