The Metauro is a river of the Marche, central Italy. It rises in the Apennine Mountains and runs east for 110 km (121 if the Meta is included as its first trait).

Its source is located between the Alpe della Luna, Monte Nerone and Monte Catria; its name (from Latin Metaurus or Mataurus, in Ancient Greek Mètauros, Μεταυρος) stems simply from the union of the two torrents Meta (running from the Apennine pass Bocca Trabaria, at 1,044 m of altitude) and Auro (flowing from the Monte Maggiore, at 1,384 m).

Communes crossed by Metauro include, in order, Sant'Angelo in Vado (where the river forms the Cascata del Sasso, "Waterfall of the Stone"), Urbania, Fermignano, Fossombrone (in whose territory it receives the waters of the Candigliano), and, after flowing into a tight valley, the Gola del Furlo, Montemaggiore al Metauro, from which it starts to flow in a plain area. It flows into the Adriatic Sea near Fano.

Battles

Two battles were fought on the banks of Metauro in ancient times.

• in 207 BC, Hasdrubal Barca, while marching to the aid of Hannibal, was defeated and slain by a Roman army led by the consuls Marcus Livius Salinator and Gaius Claudius Nero. The Battle of the Metaurus was the decisive battle of the Second Punic War. The exact site of the battle is uncertain; tradition places it between Fossombrone and the Furlo, but it is probable that it occurred nearer the Adriatic coast;

• in 271, Roman Emperor Aurelian defeated in the battle of Fano, fought near the river, the Alamanni, who had invaded the northern part of Italia the previous year.