Marmore’s Falls (or Cascata dell Marmore) is the world’s tallest man made waterfall at an incredible 165m! Making Marmore’s Fall even more incredible is that it was constructed during Roman times and dates back to 271 BC! Guess building the Rome Coliseum for the gladiators weren’t the only things keeping the Romans busy!
Marmore's Fall When Its Turned Off
For the last 20 years Marmore’s Falls has been used to generate electricity for the Umbria region and so miraculously the falls turn on and off – off when the water from the canals above the falls is being diverted to the hydroelectric power plant and only on at certain times of the day. Our group missed the on waterfall by 20 minutes, not able to pull ourselves away from our amazing lunch at Hotel Cursula where we dined on Umbrian dishes made with local ingredients like truffles and surprisingly, saffron. Even when Marmore’s Fall is off, water is still coming, but just not nearly as much as when its turned on. It was beautiful off and I can only imagine how beautiful it would be turned on. I plan to return to find out – then head to Hotel Cursula for dinner!
Know Before You Go to Marmore’s Fall: The World’s Tallest Man Made Waterfall
- The most important thing is to check the schedule to see when Marmore’s Falls will be turned on. For the month of May, Mon – Fri its on between 12:00 – 13:00 and 16:00 – 17:00, on Sat and Sun its on between 10: – 13:00 and 15:00 – 22:00. You can check the schedule at Marmore’s Falls official site.
- There are 5 different routes visitors can choose, each providing a different vantage point of the falls. All 5 routes combined take ~ 2hours. The balcony from Route 4 is popular with painters.
- Best Time to Go to Marmore’s Falls according to our guide: June, July and Sept. Avoid August, especially Aug 16th which is a holiday in Italy meaning large crowds.
- There are over 300 caves at Marmore’s Falls. Caving tours can be arranged.
- An adult ticket to Marmore’s Falls costs €8. Tours can also be arranged in a variety of languages for an extra cost.
- Marmore’s Falls is located ~ 7.7km from the medieval town of Terni
- Located ~77km of Marmore’s Fall is the amazing Monti Sibillini National Park, the only national park in Umbria
This photo has been submitted to Nancie at Budget Travelers Sandboxwhere you can see more travel photos.
Manmade and so beautiful! I would never have been able to tell this wasn’t natural. Loved this.
Debbie Beardsley @ European Travelista recently posted..Charming Mittenwald
I’ve never heard of a man-made waterfall so tall. Those Romans didn’t sit still, did they?
InsideJourneys recently posted..#TPThursday: At the Montego Bay Flower Show
Wow, it’s manmade? I spent over a week in Italy on my 70-day solo backpacking trip to Europe but I never got the chance to visit in this area. I concentrated in Rome and Tuscany. Next time hopefully I can go to the caves here.
Aleah | SolitaryWanderer.com recently posted..Best of Travel Photos—My 7 Super Shots
Given my love of waterfalls, how have I never heard of this place?!?
Christy @ Technosyncratic recently posted..Things That Cost Less Than a Dollar in Thailand
I love that it can be turned off-that just tickled my funny bone for some reason. It’s certainly beautiful!
Jessica recently posted..Getting it Right and Wrong at Dinosaur World
It’s so pretty for being unnatural. It looks amazing turned off so I would love to see its full power when turned on. Wow!
Mary @ The World Is A Book recently posted..Viewing Glaciers in Alaska
Quite impressive, isn’t it? You’ve really managed to get around to the best sights in Umbria:)
Italian Notes recently posted..Five free things to do in Turin
That’s pretty awesome…those Romans knew how to move water!:)
D.J. – The World of Deej recently posted..Pixie Dust, Fireworks, and a Pontoon Boat
What an interesting post. That’s one heck of a vertical drop – and the waterfalls look totally natural. Your first shot is particularly good.
Leigh recently posted..A Bike Ride of Discovery in Calgary
I have never heard of a man-made waterfalls – it looks completely natural! Do you know what the Romans built it to do?
Lisa recently posted..A Whirlwind Visit to Musée Rodin
That’s one heck of a vertical drop – and the waterfalls look totally natural. Your first shot is particularly good.
Julia recently posted..Low Carb Diets That Work
I spent over a week in Italy on my 70-day solo backpacking trip to Europe but I never got the chance to visit in this area. I concentrated in Rome and Tuscany. Next time hopefully I can go to the caves here. Thanks for sharing..
Julia recently posted..Low Carb Diets That Work
Pretty awesome! I know it sounds silly to say, but they don’t “look” man made. Never heard of that place, but the pictures make me want to go!
Intriguing how the Romans focused so much on water in all respects. Centuries ahead of their time…
What a shame you just missed it, I was expecting that to be one of the highlights of your trip.
Andrea recently posted..June Travel Plans
How wonderful. I had no idea that such things existed, let alone were invented so long ago. As I keep saying, they really were terribly clever, those Romans …
As a friendly note: the national holiday (Ferragosto) is August 15th, not 16th, but your guide is totally correct in that it’s chaotic! Pretty much everything shuts down in August here, as the Italians all head to the coast to sit out the hottest weather. Camping on the beach and swimming in the sea at midnight to welcome Ferragosto is a fun tradition to take part in, though.
Katja recently posted..Umbertata 2012
Very cool. Had no idea the Romans built waterfalls too… it is really pretty.
Christina recently posted..Mountain biking and canoeing in Whistler