Metauro

{{Short description|River in Marche, Italy}}

{{Infobox river

| name = Metauro

| image = Metauro à San Angelo in Vado.jpg

| image_caption = The Metauro in Sant'Angelo in Vado

| source1_location = near Monte dei Frati in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino

| mouth = Adriatic Sea

| mouth_location = near Fano

| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|43.8292|13.0546|display=it|region:IT_type:river}}

| subdivision_type1 = Country

| subdivision_name1 = {{ITA}}

| length_km = 121

| source1_elevation = {{convert|1400|m|ft|abbr=on}}

| discharge1_avg = {{convert|20.8|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}

| basin_size_km2 = 1325

}}

The Metauro is a river in the Marche region of central Italy.{{cite web |url=https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/413199 |title=Places: 413199 (Metaurus (river)) |author=Harris, W. |access-date=June 12, 2020 |publisher=Pleiades}} It rises in the Apennine Mountains and runs east for {{convert|110|km|mi}} or {{convert|121|km|mi}} if the Meta is included as its uppermost reach.

The name of the river in Latin is Metaurus{{cite book |title=Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World: Map-By-Map Directory |editor=Richard J.A. Talbert |volume=I |year=2000 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ and Oxford, UK |isbn=0691049459 |page=610 }} or Mataurus. In Ancient Greek, the name of the river is Métauros, Μέταυρος which stems simply from the union of the two torrents: Meta, running from the Apennine pass Bocca Trabaria, at an elevation of {{convert|1044|m|ft}}, and Auro, flowing from Monte Maggiore, at an elevation of {{convert|1384|m|ft}}.

The source of the river is located near Monte dei Frati in the border region between the provinces of Pesaro e Urbino, Arezzo and Perugia.{{cite book |title=Hammond World Atlas |edition=6 |year=2010 |publisher=Hammond World Atlas Corporation |isbn=9780843715606 |page=69 }} It flows east through Pesaro e Urbino near Mercatello sul Metauro, Sant'Angelo in Vado (where the river forms the Cascata del Sasso, "Waterfall of the Stone"), Urbania, Fermignano, Fossombrone (in whose territory it receives the waters of the Candigliano), and, after flowing into a tight valley, the Gola del Furlo, Montemaggiore al Metauro, from which it starts to flow in a plain area. The river flows northeast near Calcinelli, Saltara, Lucrezia, Cartoceto and Cuccurano before flowing into the Adriatic Sea near Fano.