5 January 2020, Italy, Umbria, Terni – On the way back to Rome from Le Marche, I was detoured with a surprise trip to Cascata delle Marmore in Umbria, Italy. Driving in from the highway, we can already see from afar this tall waterfall.
Located near Terni, Umbria, the Cascata delle Marmore or Marmore Falls is a man-made waterfall created by the ancient Romans, standing at 165 m (541 feet). It’s recognised as the tallest man-made waterfall in the world. The waterfall water source is a portion of the river Velino, the Piediluco lake and a valley below formed by the river Nera. Since it’s man-made, the water flow is turned on and off according to a published schedule, approximately around 12noon to 1pm and closes around 3pm to 4pm daily. An alarm is sounded first, then the gates are opened, and the small stream is transformed into a full-sized river rushing down.
As it’s January, the opening hours are also rather short, closing at 3pm. We got our tickets, queue wasn’t too long, there was ample parking space. Just before the entrance, we spotted a food truck selling porchetta panini, Italian sandwiches with pork slices. By now my tummy was growling.
So here’s the finale, we found out that the water flow is turned on and off according to a published schedule. We stayed for almost an hour from 2.45pm onwards to capture how it looks like with the diminishing flow. See this time lapse video.
Unfortunately we do have to get to Rome to visit the Vatican so we didn’t stay till the water fully stops. So check out my other posts on traveling in Italy: Mantova, Assisi, Trento.
Day trip to Toledo Spain, the City of Three Cultures
Fresh Vegetable Salad
