Italian river cruises will follow the Middle Ages routes

Cruises in Italy are usually associated with the Mediterranean region. New cruises over the rivers of Italy, which will appear in the Apennines this year promise to cause big interest. Since spring of 2009 the Italian engineers will begin works on restoration of man-made medieval canals. After the end of works ten kilometers of internal waterways and canals in floodplain of the rivers will be opened for navigation. The tourists, who decided to spend holidays in Italy, can enjoy the beauty of nature and architecture during the river cruise, which will begin at Lake Maggiore. The route of the cruise will lie on the north of Italy through such interesting cities from the historical point of view as Milan, Ferrara, Cremona, Piacenza, up to Venice.

When the project, for which realization 1 billion euros was allocated, will be finished, 140 kilometers of the waterways connecting Switzerland and Italy become navigable. For carrying out river cruises the ancient canals of 12 centuries in Milan, including the oldest of them - the Big ship canal or Naviglio Grande are already restored. Naviglio Grande is 50 kilometres of a water route on the north of Italy. The quay of Naviglio Grande is famous for the coffee houses and small souvenir shops.

According to the initiators of the project of the cruise on the rivers of Italy, unhurried travel on the restored canals can become the most colorful and interesting tourist route in Italy. The majority of these canals have been dug in the Middle Ages. Leonardo da Vinci took part in designing of some of them. On these Italian canals cargoes were delivered to Milan by means of difficult system composed of 12 sluices. When the railway system in Italy was developed, many canals have been blocked, and others were filled up. The remained canals have become shallow, and water in them began to rot. To keep a unique heritage the authorities of Italy have decided to clear and deepen the canals in order to make them navigable again. All the more, in whole Europe a considerable growth of tourist interest to ancient waterways is observed. In total over one thousand kilometers of canals and riverbeds on the continent for last 30 years were cleared and restored.

Photo: Pallares1, commons.wikimedia.org