Lambro
Encyclopedia
For the river in Cilento
Cilento
Cilento is an Italian geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the Province of Salerno and an important tourist area of southern Italy.-Geography:...

, see Lambro (Campania). For the genus, see Lambro (fungus).


The Lambro (Western Lombard
Western Lombard
Western Lombard is a Romance language spoken in Italy, in the Lombard provinces of Milan, Monza, Varese, Como, Lecco, Sondrio, a small part of Cremona , Lodi and Pavia, and the Piedmont provinces of Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and a small part of Vercelli , and Switzerland...

: Lamber or Lambar) is a river of Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

, northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, a left tributary of the Po
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...

.

The Lambro rises from the Monte San Primo (1,685 m) near the Ghisallo
Madonna del Ghisallo
Madonna del Ghisallo is a hill in Magreglio, close to Lake Como in Italy. It is named after a legendary Marian apparition.According to the legend, the Medieval count Ghisallo was being attacked by bandits when he saw an image of Virgin Mary at a shrine. He ran to it and was saved from the robbers...

, in the province of Como
Province of Como
The Province of Como is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Lecco to the East, the Province of Milan to the south and the Province of Varese to the West...

, not far from Lake Como
Lake Como
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...

. After Magreglio
Magreglio
Magreglio is a small town in the province of Como, Lombardy, Italy.-Twin towns: Friedberg, Germany...

 it flows through the Vallassina and the comuni of Asso, Ponte Lambro
Ponte Lambro
Ponte Lambro is a comune in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 40 km north of Milan and about 12 km east of Como....

 and Erba
Erba (CO)
Erba is a comune of some 17,000 inhabitants in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy...

, entering Lake Pusiano with the name of Lambrone. Later it passes through Brianza
Brianza
thumb|250px|The [[Corni di Canzo]].Brianza is a geographical area at the foot of the Alps, in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy.-Geography:...

 reaching Monza
Monza
Monza is a city and comune on the river Lambro, a tributary of the Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy some 15 km north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza. It is best known for its Grand Prix motor racing circuit, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.On June...

 and crossing its famous park (where king Umberto I was assassinated by Gaetano Bresci
Gaetano Bresci
Gaetano Bresci was an Italian American anarchist who assassinated King Umberto I of Italy. Bresci was the first European regicide not to be executed, as capital punishment in Italy had been abolished since 1889.-Militancy:...

) in two branches which join again before the river passes through the eastern part of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

. At Melegnano
Melegnano
Melegnano is a town and comune in Italy, in the province of Milan, region of Lombardy. The town lies 16 km southeast of the city of Milan...

 it receives the waters of the Vettabbia and, at Sant'Angelo Lodigiano
Sant'Angelo Lodigiano
Sant'Angelo Lodigiano is a comune in the Province of Lodi in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 30 km southeast of Milan and about 12 km southwest of Lodi.Saint Francesca Cabrini was born in this city in 1850....

, those of its main tributary, the Lambro meridionale ("Southern Lambro"), almost doubling its discharge
Discharge (hydrology)
In hydrology, discharge is the volume rate of water flow, including any suspended solids , dissolved chemical species and/or biologic material , which is transported through a given cross-sectional area...

. The Lambro flows into the Po near Orio Litta
Orio Litta
Orio Litta is a comune in the Province of Lodi in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 45 km southeast of Milan and about 14 km southeast of Lodi...

.

At 5.8 m³/s the average discharge of the Lambro is relatively small, but it can be occasionally boosted to 40 m³/s or more by the Milanese water drains and dangerous floods are frequent in the rainy seasons. Also a name of Innocenti's popular three wheeler commercial transport vehicle.

Etymology

According to Pokorny
Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...

's Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch
Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch
The Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch was published in 1959 by the Austrian-German comparative linguist and Celtic languages expert Julius Pokorny...

 (Indo-European Etymological Dictionary), 1132 (legʷh-), Lambrus corresponds to Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 ἐλαφρός, meaning 'light (in weight), quick, nimble' ('leicht, flink' in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

) and is related to Illyrian lembus (*lengʷho-s) 'light vehicle' ('leichtes Fahrzeug' in German), whence also Greek λέμβος. Pokorny cites Krahe
Hans Krahe
Hans Krahe was a German philologist and linguist, specializing over many decades in the Illyrian languages. He was born at Gelsenkirchen....

, Gymnasium 59 (1952), p. 79.

Pollution

Lambro drains a very densely populated and heavily industrialized zone, including a significant portion of the Milan metropolitan area
Milan metropolitan area
The Milan metropolitan area, known as Grande Milano , is the urban agglomeration around the city of Milan, Italy.The spatial spread of the Milan metropolitan area has greatly accelerated over recent decades...

 with a population of more than 3,000,000. Before the construction of a treatment plant
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...

 in 2002, almost all of the sewage from the city of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 flowed untreated into the river, as well as industrial sewages.

Saboteur oil spill

Despite the implementation of sewage treatment, overall water quality remained poor, until the major disaster of 23rd February 2010, when unknown criminals poured into the river, near Villasanta
Villasanta
Villasanta is a comune in the Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 20 km northeast of Milan.Villasanta borders the following municipalities: Arcore, Biassono, Monza, Concorezzo....

, the contents of several silos containing oil and other hydrocarbons, all belonging to a company named "Lombardia Petroli". This oily mass (estimated over 2.5 million liters) followed the entire length of the river, despite both local authorities and civil defence's efforts in order to stop the flow, then reached Po river. This disaster caused considerable damage to wildlife and vegetation, both in Lambro and in Po, and unfortunately its effects will be evident for many years afterwards, making it one of the worst environmental crisis in recent history in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Quotations

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