The Chernyalka () is a 27 km-long river in northern
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, a right tributary of the river
Vit, itself a right tributary of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
.
The Chernyalka takes its source in the
Danubian Plain at an altitude of 425 m, some 1.5 km northwest of the village of
Lisets. It flows north to the village of
Ralevo and then bends in direction northwest, flowing through a karst gorge with steep, at places vertical slopes. The river cuts through the southernmost parts of the Pleven Heights, built of
Upper Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cret ...
limestones and clay–sandy rocks. The section between the villages of
Gortalovo and
Kurtozhabene is particularly picturesque. In 1969, the entire length of the 28 km gorge with an area of 4.492 km
2 was declared a natural landmark.
The river flows into the Vit at an altitude of 66 m at the village of
Tarnene.
The principal feed is formed by karst waters, with high water in March–June and low water in July–October.
The river flows in
Lovech
Lovech (, ) is a city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city of Sofia. Near Lovech are the towns of ...
and
Pleven Province
Pleven Province ( or Плевенска Област) is a province located in central northern Bulgaria, bordering the Danube river, Romania and the Bulgarian provinces of Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech. It is divided into 11 subdivisions ...
s. There are six villages along its course:
Nikolaevo,
Laskar, Ralevo, Gortalovo, Kartozhabene and Tarnene, all of them in
Pleven Municipality. Its waters are utilized for irrigation.
Gallery
File:Chernelka_river-valley_-_panoramio.jpg
File:Местност "Чернелка" 02.jpg
File:Chernelka river-valley - panoramio - marintsochev.jpg
Citations
References
*
* {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Large Encyclopedia Bulgaria, 2012
, title = Голяма енциклопедия „България“
, trans-title = Large Encyclopedia Bulgaria
, last1 =
, first1 =
, chapter =
, year = 2012
, language = Bulgarian
, publisher = Книгоиздателска къща „Труд“ (Trud Press)
, location = София (Sofia)
, isbn = 9789548104340
Rivers of Bulgaria
Landforms of Lovech Province
Landforms of Pleven Province