Toce

The Toce is a river that originates in the Alps, in the northern part of Piedmont in Italy near the border with Switzerland. It then flows first through a valley called Val Formazza and the through the Val d'Ossola and from there into the Lago Maggiore. 

It is around  long. In the town of Formazza the river forms a  high waterfall called "Cascata del Toce" or "Cascata della Frua".

At the top of the waterfall, there is a small balcony from which the waterfall can be seen. Near the top there is a hotel build in 1863 and restructured in 1923 by architect Piero Portaluppi in Art Deco style. The same architect also designed some of the power stations on the course of the river. The water of the river is used for electricity production for this reason the waterfall is at full flow only a few months of the year in summer.  

The river flows from north to south until it joins the Anza, one of the right side tributaries, then it turns southeast until it flows into Lake Maggiore. The river has many tributaries which come from the side valleys of the Val Formazza and the Val d'Ossola.

There are some protected areas along the river. One is between the towns of Villadossola and Domodossola, the area is part of the Natura 2000 protected areas network to protect habitats of endangered species. On the mouth of the river there is another protected area called Fondo Toce Natural Reserve, the main plant is common reed (Phragmites australis) and many birds stop here during their migrations.

Since 1915, the river has had pollution problems. In that year a factory in Pieve Vergonte started producing sulfuric acid, during World War II the factory produced chemicals for the military and after the war it started producing DDT polluting a tributary of the river Toce. The factory was later closed but residues of pollution are still present also in the Lago Maggiore.

In the past, the river was navigable, and marble from the quarries of Candoglia was transported along it to Milan. The marble was used to build the Duomo di Milano. 

References

Category:Rivers of Italy