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River

Magra

70 km from source to mouth · Italy.

ItalyItalyFlows into Ligurian Sea

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

70km

Average flow

40m³/s

Basin

1,686km²

Drop

225m

from 225 m to 0 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

70 km of river and 21 stops on the way: 14 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

225 m0 m
Sourceat 225 m0 km
Villafranca in Lunigiana3,070 people17 km
Terrarossa1,334 people28 km
Aulla4,321 people33 km
Albiano Magra1,907 people42 km
Santo Stefano di Magra8,153 people51 km
Varatributary51 km
Sarzana20,435 people61 km
Ligurian Seaat 0 m70 km
020406070 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 225 m
  2. 0 kmbridge of Groppodalosio
  3. 0 kmPonte Pompeo Spagnoli
  4. 0 kmponte del Carmine
  5. 0 kmPonte dei Quattro Santi
  6. 0 kmPonte Cesare Battisti
  7. 0 kmPontremoli5,208 people
  8. 17 kmVillafranca in Lunigiana3,070 people
  9. 28 kmTerrarossa1,334 people
  10. 33 kmAulla4,321 people
  11. 35 kmPodenzana1,819 people
  12. 41 kmCaprigliola bridge
  13. 42 kmAlbiano Magra1,907 people
  14. 46 kmCeparana-Carpena5,951 people
  15. 49 kmVezzano Ligure1,392 people
  16. 51 kmSanto Stefano di Magra8,153 people
  17. 51 kmVaratributary
  18. 51 kmStazione-Fornola2,990 people
  19. 55 kmArcola5,941 people
  20. 59 kmRomito Magra2,558 people
  21. 61 kmSarzana20,435 people
  22. 67 kmAmeglia2,617 people
  23. 70 kmLigurian Seaat 0 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Italy

At the mouth it carries 40 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 62 seconds. It drops from 225 m to 0 m, 3.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,686 km², about the size of GP. 138,000 people live in it. Highest water: from November to January; lowest: from June to August. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • SarzanaLargest city on its banks · 20,435 people
  • Pisa International Airport (PSA)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 59 km from the cityCar hire at PSA airport (Pisa)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water7 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Magra, month by month

Highest water: from November to January

Lowest water: from June to August. Best months to visit: from May to September.

110
7°103 mmJan
88
8°84 mmFeb
76
10°86 mmMar
65
13°83 mmApr
46
17°66 mmMay
25
20°47 mmJun
9.5
23°27 mmJul
13
23°52 mmAug
32
20°76 mmSep
80
16°125 mmOct
110
11°120 mmNov
110
8°106 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 9.5 m³/s in the lowest month to 110 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Magra: the basin in numbers

1,671 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 138,000people live in the basin
  • 83/km²people per km²
  • 546maverage altitude of the basin
  • 917mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 11.4°Caverage air temperature
  • 7%protected areas

What covers the basin

  • 91% Forest
  • 2% Cropland
  • 4% Pasture
  • 6% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Magra: what you find on the way

  • 5Weirs
  • 8WaterfallsCascatella Servirola, Cascatella, Cascatella del Sassino and 5 more
  • 1Boat ramps
  • 6MarinasLuni Yachting, Marina 3B, Bocca di Magra Ar-Nav Harbour and 3 more
  • 18River beachesBagno Ivana, Bagno Arcobaleno, Bagno San Marco and 15 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Magra in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 23beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
  • 19mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 4islands off the mouthIslandyas

Beaches (23)

At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya

  1. Spiaggia Forte dei Marmi18 km away25.2°C
  2. Spiaggia Marina di Pietrasanta22 km away25.2°C
  3. Spiaggia della Marinella di San Terenzo7.5 km away25.1°C
  4. Spiaggia Del Persico15 km away25.1°C
  5. Spiaggia Libera dell'Olivo11 km away25.1°C
  6. Spiaggia Fiumaretta di Amegliakm 4525.2°C
  7. Spiaggia Eco Del Mare5.1 km away25.2°C
  8. Spiaggia di San Terenzo7.3 km away25.1°C

15 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (19)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Monte Sillara14 km away · prominence 663 m1,861m
  2. Monte Marmagna9.1 km away · prominence 171 m1,852m
  3. Monte Orsaro9.2 km away · prominence 117 m1,831m
  4. Monte Losanna15 km away1,856m
  5. Monte Braiola8.8 km away · prominence 97 m1,818m
  6. Monte Brusa11 km away · prominence 116 m1,794m
  7. Monte Aquila9.8 km away1,780m
  8. Monte Molinatico10 km away · prominence 509 m1,549m

11 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (4)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. Tino11 km away0.1km²
  2. Palmaria11 km away1.6km²
  3. Tinetto11 km away0.0km²
  4. Scoglio Ferale16 km away0.0km²

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Magra: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Magra: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Magra in pictures

Bocca di Magra
William Domenichini · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bocca di Magra - panoramio
schwientek · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bocca di Magra - panoramio (1)
schwientek · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bocca di Magra - Ameglia, La Spezia, Italy - May 30, 2021
Giorgio Galeotti · CC BY 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (4)

Also: Vara, Aulella, Taverone, Verde

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q692549) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesCoastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit