The Mativir () is a river in southern

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 river Topolnitsa, a left tributary of the

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

. Its length is 61 km. The Mativir drains significant areas of the Ihtimanska

Sredna Gora Sredna Gora ( ) is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and extending from the river Iskar (river), Iskar to the west and the elbow of river Tundzha north of the city of Yambol to the east. ...

mountain range.

Geography

The river takes its source under the name Baba in the western part of the Ihtimanska Sredna Gora at an altitude of 963 m, some 1.3 km west of the village of Borika. In the first 2 km it flows north and then turns eastwards passing through a deep forested valley. At the confluence between the Baba, the Razhana and the Meshkovitsa at 693 m, now under the name Matnitsa, the river turns southeast and after 3 km it enters the

Ihtiman Valley Ihtiman Valley () is situated in western Bulgaria. It is named after its main settlement, the town of Ihtiman. Geography The valley has the shape of an isosceles triangle, turned with its apex to the southeast. It has a length of 16 km an ...

. It the valley it flows in a corrected river bed. At 2 km north of the village of Mirovo it turns northeast, exits the valley and enters the Sersemkale Gorge between the ridges of Belitsa to the northwest and Eledzhik to the southeast, both part of Sredna Gora. It flows into the

Topolnitsa Reservoir Topolnitsa Reservoir () is a List of dams and reservoirs in Bulgaria, dam and reservoir in the Sredna Gora mountain range of western Bulgaria. Administratively, it is located in Panagyurishte Municipality of Pazardzhik Province and Ihtiman Munic ...

at an altitude of 393 m. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 412 km² or 23% of the Topolnitsa's total. The Mativir has predominantly rain-snow feed with high water in March and low water in August. The average annual discharge at Sersemkale Gorge is 1.5 m³/s.

Settlements and economy

The river flows entirely in

Sofia Province Sofia Province () is a province (''oblast'') of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains the seat of its administration. The province borders on the provinces of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Paz ...

. There are two settlements along its course, the village of Paunovo and the town of

Ihtiman Ihtiman ( ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the Ihtiman Valley of the Ihtimanska Sredna Gora mountain range and lies in a valley 48 km from Sofia and 95 km from Plovdiv, close to the Trakiya moto ...

, both in

Ihtiman Municipality Ihtiman ( ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the Ihtiman Valley of the Ihtimanska Sredna Gora mountain range and lies in a valley 48 km from Sofia and 95 km from Plovdiv, close to the Trakiya motor ...

. The river's waters are utilised for irrigation and industrial water supply in Ihtiman Valley. There are several important transport corridors along the Mativir valley. These include a 15 km stretch of the

Trakia motorway The Trakia motorway (, ) or Thrace motorway, designated A1, is a motorway in Bulgaria. It connects the capital city of Sofia, the city of Plovdiv and the city of Burgas on the Black Sea coast. The motorway is named after the historical region of ...

and a 16 km section of the first class I-8 road

Kalotina Kalotina ( ) is a village in the Dragoman Municipality, Sofia Province, in westernmost central Bulgaria. As of 2010, it has 270 inhabitants and the mayor is Lidia Bozhilova. The village is located at the border with Serbia, 55 km to the north ...

–

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

–

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

–

Kapitan Andreevo Kapitan Andreevo ( ) is a village near the Bulgaria—Turkey—Greece tripoint in Svilengrad municipality, Haskovo Province, southern Bulgaria. As of 2005 it has 948 inhabitants and the mayor is Dimitar Shiderov. Due to the proximity with Turkey, ...

, both part of the

European route E80 European route E80, also known as the Trans-European Motorway or TEM, is an A-Class West-East European route, extending from Lisbon, Portugal to Gürbulak, Turkey, on the border with Iran. The road connects 10 countries and has a length of ...

. There is also a 6 km stretch of the third class III-803 road Ihtiman– Lesichovo–

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the centre of Pazardzhik Province and Pazardzhik Municipality. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain and in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Field, a ...

through the Sersemkale Gorge. Between the confluence of the Baba, the Razhana and the Meshkovitsa and the village of Mirovo a section of the

Bulgarian State Railways The Bulgarian State Railways (, abbreviated as БДЖ, BDZ or BDŽ) are Bulgaria's state railway company and former largest railway carrier in the country, established as an entity in 1888. The company's headquarters are located in the capital So ...

railway line No. 1 Kalotina–Sofia–Plovdiv–

Svilengrad Svilengrad (; ; ) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria, situated at the tripoint of Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svilengrad Municipality. Geography Svilengrad is close to the ro ...

follows the Mativir valley.

Citations

References

* {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria, 1980 , title = Географски речник на България , trans-title = Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria , last1 = Мичев (Michev) , first1 = Николай (Nikolay) , last2 = Михайлов (Mihaylov) , first2 = Цветко (Tsvetko) , last3 = Вапцаров (Vaptsarov) , first3 = Иван (Ivan) , last4 = Кираджиев (Kiradzhiev) , first4 = Светлин (Svetlin) , chapter = , year = 1980 , language = Bulgarian , publisher = Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura) , location = София (Sofia) , isbn = Rivers of Bulgaria Landforms of Sofia Province