The Stara reka (, meaning "Old River") is a 61 km-long 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 of the river

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 ,

Geography

The river takes its source at an altitude of 1,743 m in the Batak Mountain of western

Rhodope mountain range The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak a ...

, 1.3 km west of the Kartela locality on the road between the towns of

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

and

Dospat Dospat () is a town in the very south of Bulgaria, part of Smolyan Province, situated in the Rhodope Mountains, close to Dospat Dam. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Dospat Municipality. As of December 2010, the town had a popul ...

. Until the town of

Peshtera Peshtera ( , sometimes transliterated as ''Peštera'') is a town in the Rhodope Mountains, southern Bulgaria. It is located in Pazardzhik Province near the towns of Batak and Bratsigovo. The town is the third largest in the province after Paza ...

it flows in a north-northeastern direction in a deep, at places canyon-like, valley which widens only in the area around Batak. At Peshtera its valley widens again and then enters another steep valley, crossing the northern foothills of the Rhodope Mountains. At the village of Byaga the valley of Stara Reka widens once again, winds around the Besaparski Hills from the south and east and enters the

Upper Thracian Plain The Upper Thracian Plain (, ''Gornotrakiyska nizina'') constitutes the northern part of the historical region of Thrace. It is located in southern Bulgaria, between Sredna Gora mountains to the north and west, a secondary mountain chain parallel ...

, where the river flows into the Maritsa at an altitude of 183 m west of the town of

Stamboliyski Stamboliyski ( ) is a town in Plovdiv Province, southern Bulgaria. It is located on the Maritsa river. Stamboliyski was founded in 1873–75, when the Istanbul-Belovo, Bulgaria, Belovo railway was built. It was initially called Gara Krichim ('K ...

. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 350 km² or 0.66% of Maritsa's total and borders the drainage basins of the

Chepinska reka The Chepinska reka (), or Chepino river, is a 83 km-long river in southern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the river Maritsa. Geography The river takes its source as Ribna reka (''Fish river'') at an altitude of 1,990 m, about 800&nb ...

and several small tributaries of the Maritsa to the west and northwest and the Vacha to the east and south, all of them right tributaries of the Maritsa. The Stara reka has predominantly rain-snow feed with high water in April–May and low water in September. The average annual flow at its mouth is 2.74 m³/s.

Settlements and economy

The river flows almost entirely in

Pazardzhik Province Pazardzhik Province ( ''Oblast Pazardzhik'', former name Pazardzhik okrug) is a province in Southern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre: the city of Pazardzhik. The territory is that is divided into 12 municipaliti ...

; its final few kilometers are in

Plovdiv Province Plovdiv Province (: ''Oblast Plovdiv'', former name okrug, Plovdiv okrug) is a provinces of Bulgaria, province in central southern Bulgaria. It comprises 18 municipalities (общини, ''obshtini'', sing. общинa, ''obshtina'') on a territ ...

. There are six settlements along its course: the towns of Batak and Peshtera and the villages of Byaga, Isperihovo, Kurtovo Konare and Novo Selo. There two main roads along its valley, a 17.3 km stretch of the second class II-37 road

Yablanitsa Yablanitsa (; also ''Jablanica'', ''Iablanica'', ''Yablanica'', ''Jablanitsa'', ''Iablanitsa'', ''Jablanitza'', ''Yablanitza'', ''Iablanitza'', ) is a small town in the westernmost part of Lovech Province, central-north Bulgaria, located in the a ...

–

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 ...

–

follows the Stara reka between Peshtera and Batak, and an 11.3 km stretch of the third class III-375 road Peshtera–

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 ...

follows its valley between Peshtera and Isperihovo. Almost the entire route of the Stamboliyski–Peshtera railway follows its lower course. The river's waters are utilised for irrigation and industrial water supply. Part of its waters are diverted via underground tunnel to the Batak Reservoir for electricity generation at the

Batak Hydropower Cascade The Batak Hydroelectric Cascade (, translit. ''Batashki Vodnosilov Pat'') is situated in the Pazardzhik Province, southern Bulgaria and is among the first hydroelectric cascades in the country. Inaugurated on 6 September 1959, it includes seven re ...

(254 MW).

Citations

References

* {{Batak Hydropower Cascade Rivers of Bulgaria Landforms of Pazardzhik Province