Together with the legendary Amendolea, the Melito o Tuccio River, is the watery giant alongside which the numerous local communities of the Graecanic Area have learned to live. For the Arabs it was “wadi al asal” (the river of honey) because of the quantity of honey produced in the area.

It springs at 1,588 metres above sea level, before beginning its tortuous course through the Tuccio Valley. At an altitude of about 436 metres, it meets the interesting village of Bagaladi and enters the sea at Melito Porto Salvo, about 34 kilometres from Reggio Calabria.

In the upper valley of the river, close to the source, the characteristic granite ravines can be reached on foot.

The shape of the Tuccio Valley was forged by the passage of the river with which it shares its name.

From north to south, it passes through the following towns, villages and hamlets: Bagaladi, Ielasi, Lanzena, Cappella Vecchia, San Fantino, Chorio di San Lorenzo, Ravazzana, Musupuniti (or Musopuniti), Caredia, Lacco, Prunella, Pallica and, at its mouth, Melito di Porto Salvo.

The river is at its widest in the vicinity of Lacco, a hamlet belonging to the municipality of Melito di Porto Salvo, where it measures about half a kilometre across.