Moselle

Moselle
Typical landscape of Moselle vineyards near Schweich
Map of the Moselle River watershed
Native name	La Moselle (French) die Mosel (German) Musel (Luxembourgish)
Location
Countries	France Germany Luxembourg
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Vosges mountains
• elevation	715 m (2,346 ft)
Mouth
• location	Rhine
• coordinates	50°21′58″N 7°36′25″E / 50.36611°N 7.60694°E / 50.36611; 7.60694
Length	546 km (339 mi)
Basin size	28,111 km2 (10,854 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	284 m3/s (10,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Progression	Rhine→ North Sea

The Moselle (/moʊˈzɛl/ moh-ZEL,^[1] French: [mɔzɛl] ^ⓘ; German: Mosel [ˈmoːzl̩] ^ⓘ; Luxembourgish: Musel [ˈmuzəl] ^ⓘ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is in its basin as it includes the Sauer and the Our.

Its lower course "twists and turns its way between Trier and Koblenz along one of Germany's most beautiful river valleys."^[2] In this section the land to the north is the Eifel which stretches into Belgium; to the south lies the Hunsrück. The river flows through a region that was cultivated by the Romans. Today, its hillsides are covered by terraced vineyards where "some of the best Rieslings grow".^[2] Many castle ruins sit on the hilltops above wine villages and towns along the slopes. Traben-Trarbach with its art nouveau architecture and Bernkastel-Kues with its traditional market square are two of the many tourist attractions on the Moselle river.