Piave (river)

The Piave (Italian: [ˈpjaːve]; Latin: Plavis) is a river in Northeast Italy. It begins in the Alps and flows southeast for 220 kilometres (140 mi) into the Adriatic Sea near the city of Venice. One of its tributaries is the Boite. In 1809 it was the scene of a battle during the Napoleonic Wars, in which Franco-Italian and Austrian forces clashed. In 1918, during World War I, it was the scene of Battle of the Piave River, the last major Austro-Hungarian attack on the Italian front, which failed. The Battle of the Piave River was a decisive battle of World War I on the Italian Front. In Italy the river is thus called Fiume Sacro alla Patria (Sacred River of the Homeland) and is mentioned in the patriotic song "La leggenda del Piave". It was eventually followed by the Battle of Vittorio Veneto later that year.