Panaro (river)

The Panaro (lat. Scultenna) is the last right tributary of the Po in northern Italy. It runs in a north-easterly direction through the region of Emilia-Romagna, from its source near the Apennine watershed, where Emilia-Romagna borders on Tuscany, to its mouth, where the Po forms the region's border with Veneto.

The length of the Panaro is 148 km; the river has a catchment area of 2292 km². It usually carries little water in summer, but is torrential in spring and autumn. Its main source, the Rio delle Tagliole, rises at Foce a Giovo on Monte Rondinaio about 12 km southwest of the highest peak of the Etruscan Apennines, Monte Cimone (2165 m.s.l.m. ). It then flows down the valley towards the northeast. From Pievepelago, in the province of Modena, it is called Scoltenna and then, from the area of Pavullo nel Frignano, it is called Panaro. In this area it marks the border between the municipalities of Montana del Frignano and Montana dell'Appennino Modena Est. Near Modena it receives water from the Naviglio di Modena and is navigable from there to its mouth on the Po (just west of Ferrara). It flows through the towns of Vignola, Finale Emilia and Bondeno.

In ancient times, the Panaro was known as Scultenna. Strabon mentions that the sheep in the area through which it flows produced very fine wool. On its banks, the Roman consul Gaius Claudius Pulcher decisively defeated the Ligurians in 177 BC. It also played a role in 43 BC and in the Lombard period.

Of historical and artistic interest is the Ponte di Olina (Olina Bridge), built in 1522, which spans the river near the village of the same name in the municipality of Pavullo nel Frignano.