Italy, circa 1855
by Robert McPherson

The Marmore Waterfalls are actually an engineering marvel created in -290 by the Romans who dug a canal from the stagnant waters of the Velino river to the Marmore Cliffs. Tumbling 165m over the cliffs, the Velino then joins the Nera river which flows through the valley below. Popular legend, however, is that the God Juno punished the nymph Nera, who had fallen in love with the shepherd Velino, by changing her into a river. Velino, in his distraught state, then threw himself over the Marmore cliffs in order to join his beloved on her trek to the sea.