Canna (unit)

Last updated November 28, 2025

Canna (pl. canne; proper meaning in Italian: Cane) was an ancient Italian unit of length, which differed from place to place.

Capua: 2.1768707 m (9th – 15th centuries)^[1]

Republic of Genoa: 2.49095 m
Kingdom of Naples:
- canna: 2.1163952 m (edict of 6 April 1480)
- canna: 2.6455026 m (law of 6 April 1840)
- field surveying canna: 6.998684 m² (law of 6 April 1840)
Romagna: 1.9928 m
Sicily: 2.062 m
Tuscany
- field surveying canna, a.k.a. 5 "braccia" long "pertica": 2.9183 m
- canna (fabric): 0.58366 m
Rome
- canna (architecture): 2.234 m
- commercial canna: 1.992 m
Teramo: 3.17 m
Malta: 2.08 m (2 yd, 10 in)^[2]

Sources

Guidi, Giuseppe (1855) [1839]. Ragguaglio delle monete dei pesi e delle misure attualmente in uso negli stati italiani (in Italian). Firenze: Federico Pustet / Le Monnier. Retrieved 12 July 2015.

Notes

↑
- De Rosa, Vincenzo (1977). "Tavole di ragguaglio delle misure napoletane comuni e delle consuetudinarie capuane con il sistema metrico decimale". Quaderni della Gazzetta di Gaeta (in Italian) (14). Cassino: Di Bernardo.
↑ "The Water Supply of the Maltese Islands" (PDF). Archivum Melitense. VII (1). Malta Historical and Scientific Society: 6. 1922. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. One Maltese canna is practically, equal,[ sic ] to 2 yards 10 inches.

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[1] 
De Rosa, Vincenzo (1977). "Tavole di ragguaglio delle misure napoletane comuni e delle consuetudinarie capuane con il sistema metrico decimale". Quaderni della Gazzetta di Gaeta (in Italian) (14). Cassino: Di Bernardo.

[mwQQ] De Rosa, Vincenzo (1977). "Tavole di ragguaglio delle misure napoletane comuni e delle consuetudinarie capuane con il sistema metrico decimale". Quaderni della Gazzetta di Gaeta (in Italian) (14). Cassino: Di Bernardo.

[archivummelitense-2] "The Water Supply of the Maltese Islands" (PDF). Archivum Melitense. VII (1). Malta Historical and Scientific Society: 6. 1922. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. One Maltese canna is practically, equal,[ sic ] to 2 yards 10 inches.

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