The Provadiya or the Provadiyska reka () is a 119 km long river in northeastern

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 ...

, named after the town of

Provadia Provadia ( ) is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Varna Province, located in a deep karst gorge (Provadia syncline) along the Provadiya River not far from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is the administrative centre of Provadia Municipal ...

Geography

The Provadiyska reka takes its source under the name Kamenitsa from a karst spring at an altitude of 119 km at the outskirts of the village of Boyan in the Samuilovo Heights of the

Ludogorie The Ludogorie () or Deliorman (; and Bulgarian: lud - "mad", "crazy" and gora - "forest"), is a region in northeastern Bulgaria stretching over the plateau of the same name. Major cities in the region are Targovishte, Razgrad, Dulovo, Novi P ...

region. It flows southeast through the region of Ovche Pole in a wide valley, which narrows and becomes canyon-like between the towns of

Kaspichan Kaspichan (, ) is a town in central northeastern Bulgaria, part of Shumen Province. It is located in the eastern Danubian Plain, some from the major Black Sea port Varna and around from the key Danube ports of Ruse and Silistra. As of Decembe ...

and

, running between the Provadia Plateau to the southwest, the Stana Plateau to the north and the Dobrinsko Plateau to the east. Downstream from the town of Provadia the river forms a large arch bulging south, then turns north and finally northeast, before emptying in

Lake Beloslav Lake Beloslav () is a liman, which connected by a navigation canal with Lake Varna. Before the canal was built the lake was freshwater, but now the water is brackish. The rivers Devnya and Provadiyska flow into Lake Beloslav. The area of the li ...

some 2.6 km northeast of the village of Razdelna. The lake is connected to

Lake Varna Lake Varna (, ) is the largest by volume and deepest liman or lake along the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, divided from the sea by a 2 km-wide strip of sand and having an area of 19 km2, maximal depth 19 m, and a volume of 166 million m3. ...

, which is itself linked with the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

via a navigable channel. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 2,132 km² and borders the drainage systems of the

Kanagyol The Kanagyol (, ) is a river in northeastern Bulgaria and southeastern Romania. It is a tributary of the Danube via Lake Bugeac, which is drained by the Almălău. The river flows in the region of Dobruja. Its length is 110 km, of which over ...

, the Suha reka and the Batova reka to the north and the

Kamchiya The Kamchiya (also Kamchia and Kamčija, ) is a river in eastern Bulgaria. From its longest source, Golyama Kamchiya (Big Kamchiya), it has a total length of (. The river Kamchiya proper starts from the confluence of the two rivers springing ...

to the south. Among its tributaries is the river

Devnya Devnya ( ) is a town in Varna Province, Northeastern Bulgaria, located about 25 km away to the west from the city of Varna and The Black Sea Coast. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Devnya Municipality. As of December 2009, ...

. The Provadiyska reka has a rain–snow feed. High water is in February–March and low water is in August–September. The average annual discharge is 2.4 m³/s at the village of

Sindel This is a list of playable and boss characters from the ''Mortal Kombat'' fighting game franchise and the games in which they appear. Created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, the series depicts conflicts between various realms. Most characters fig ...

Fauna

The Provadiyska reka contains several rare fish species, including Dnieper chub, sunbleak, Romanian barbel,

three-spined stickleback The three-spined stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its ra ...

Caucasian dwarf goby ''Knipowitschia caucasica'', the Caucasian dwarf goby, is a species of goby native to marine, fresh and brackish waters along the coasts of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, the Caspian Sea and the Aegean Sea and to the Haliacmon drainage of Greece ...

, longtail dwarf goby, etc. The first two may have been expatriated from the river. It is also the northern limit of the Bulgarian minnow.

Settlements and economy

The Provadiyska reka flows in

Shumen Shumen (, also Romanization of Bulgarian, romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, tenth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city ...

and

Varna Province Varna Province (), formerly known as Varna okrug, is a province in eastern Bulgaria, one of the 28 Bulgarian provinces. It comprises 12 municipalities with a population of 494,216 as of April 2016.Edinakovtsi,

Dobri Voynikovo Dobri means ''good'' in several Slavic languages and may refer to *Dobri (given name) *Dobri dol (disambiguation) *Dobri Do (disambiguation) *Dobri, Hungary, a village *Dobri Dub, a village in Serbia *Dobri Laki, a village in Bulgaria *Novigrad na D ...

Hitrino Hitrino (, ) is a village in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Shumen Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Hitrino Municipality, which lies in the northwestern part of the province. Hitrino is located in the northeastern Ludog ...

, Kamenyak and Kaspichan (town) in Shumen Province, and Venchan, Zlatina, Provadia (town), Barzitsa,

Yunak Yunak is a municipality and district of Konya Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,101 km2, and its population is 20,991 (2022). Composition There are 42 neighbourhoods in Yunak District: * Altınöz * Ayrıtepe * Beşışıklı * Böğrüdelik ...

, Sindel, Trastikovo and Razdelna in Varna Province. Its waters are utilized for irrigation and industrial supply for the major Varna-Devnya Industrial Complex. Its valley is an important transport route, fully traversed by a section of railway line No. 9 Ruse–

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

served by 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 ...

. There two roads along its valley, an 8.9 km stretch of the third class III-208 road Vetrino–

Dalgopol Dalgopol (, ; also transliterated ''Dǎlgopol'') is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Varna Province. It is the administrative centre of Dalgopol Municipality, which lies in the southwestern part of the Province. As of December 2009, the to ...

–

Aytos Aytos ( ), sometimes written Aitos and Ajtos, is a town located in eastern Bulgaria some 30 kilometers from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and belonging to the administrative boundaries of Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the ...

between Zlatina and Provadia, and a 12.8 km section of the third class III-904 road Staro Oryahovo– Dolni Chiflik–Provadia follows it between Barzitsa and Provadia.

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Red Book of Bulgaria, Volume II, 2015 , title = Red Book of Bulgaria, Volume II , trans-title = , last1 = Golemanski , first1 = Vasil , last2 = Peev , first2 = Dimitar , last3 = Chipev , first3 = Nesho , last4 = Beron , first4 = Petar , last5 = Biserkov , first5 = Valko , chapter = , year = 2015 , language = Bulgarian , publisher =

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; , ''Bŭlgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, with headquarters in Sofia, is autonomous and consists of a S ...

, location =

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 ...

, isbn = 978-954-9746-19-8 Rivers of Bulgaria Landforms of Varna Province Landforms of Shumen Province Tributaries of the Black Sea