Among the valleys that cut the Liguria region from the mountains to the sea, the Argentina Valley holds the record for the highest difference in altitude and the highest altitude above sea level. In fact, the valley terminal at Arma di Taggia is at zero altitude, rising up to the 2200 metres of Monte Saccarello, the highest peak in Liguria, right on the Italian-French border.
This special feature means that over a length of the valley - which is, all things considered, limited - of less than 30 kilometres, a great variety of environments can develop, from the maritime to the purely Alpine one.
The towns and villages that we meet going up the Argentina Valley are Taggia, Badalucco, Montalto, Andagna, Molini di Triora, Corte, Triora, Creppo, Realdo and Verdeggia, the last village at 1092 metres above sea level.
The creek rises near Monte Saccarello in the municipality of Triora, flows through the valley that takes its name (Argentina Valley) and flows into the Ligurian Sea at Arma di Taggia. It is about 36 km long in total. Its main tributary is the Carpasina creek (which flows above the village of Badalucco, and its name is due to the passage near the village of Carpasio), followed by the Oxentina (that flows near the village of Oxentina, a few km below the village of Badalucco) and the Capriolo (which enters in the creek near the village of Molini di Triora; on its path, in ancient times, there were several mills to grind wheat, mills that give the name to the village of Molini).
In its flow it passes through the municipalities of Triora, Molini di Triora, Moltalto Ligure, Badalucco and Taggia, where it flows into the district of Arma di Taggia.
The Argentina creek does not have a great flow because the impluvium of the southern slope of Monte Saccarello is composed of very permeable calcareous soils.
The Argentina torrent forms, on its flow to the sea, small lakes, such as the small Green Lake of Molini, those of Agaggio, and Badalucco. Very famous are the small lakes of Montalto, water definitely warmer than in Molini and sunny little beaches are the cause of a lot of people coming and going during the summer.
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