The Stara reka () is a 92 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

Yantra Yantra (; 'machine'/'contraption') is a geometrical diagram, mainly from the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions. Yantras are used for the worship of deities in temples or at home; as an aid in meditation; and for the benefits believe ...

, 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 ...

. It is the second largest tributary of the Yantra, after the Rositsa. The Stara reka takes its source under the name Golema reka at an altitude of 964 m, northeast of the Aglikina Polyana locality west of the Vratnik Pass in the Elena–Tvarditsa division of the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

. It initially flows in a deep forested valley, which widens until reaching the village of Maysko. Then, for more than 60 km between Maysko and Kesarevo the valley is deep and in places gorge-like, cutting through the Elena Heights to the west and the Lisa Mountain to the east. After Kesarevo the Stara reka enters the Danubian Plain, the valley widens significantly and the river forms meanders. In this section it takes its largest tributaries, the

Golyama reka The Golyama reka () is a 75 km-long river in northern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the Stara reka, itself a right tributary of the river Yantra of the Danube basin. It is the largest tributary of the Stara reka. The Golyama reka takes its ...

and the Veselina. The river flows into the Yantra at an altitude of 56 m some 700 m southwest of the village of Gorski Dolen Trambesh. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 2,458 km² or 31.3% of the Yantra's total. Its largest tributaries are the

(75 km) and the Veselina (70 km). High water is in April–June and low water is in August–October. The average annual discharge is 4.6 m³/s at the village of Slivovitsa and reaches 15.8 m³/s at Bryagovitsa, after receiving its major tributaries. The river flows in

Sliven Sliven ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. It is situated in the Sliven Valley at the foothills of th ...

Targovishte Targovishte (, also transliteration, transliterated ''Tǎrgovište'', , ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in Bulgaria, the administrative and economic capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the l ...

and

Veliko Tarnovo Province Veliko Tarnovo () is a province in the middle of the northern part of Bulgaria. Its capital city, Veliko Tarnovo, is of historical significance as it was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The province is divided into ten municipalitie ...

s. There are eight villages along its course: Stara Reka in Sliven Province, Stevrek and Stara Rechka in Targovishte Province, and Maysko, Chesma, Slivovitsa, Kesarevo and Bryagovitsa in Veliko Tarnovo Province. The river is clear and the rock formations along the river banks are favourable for tourism. Its waters in the lower course are utilized for irrigation in the Dabunian Plain. There two main roads along its valley, a 6.4 km stretch of the first class I-4 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 ...

–

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

–

Varna, Bulgaria Varna (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, third-largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, t ...

and an 18.4 km section of the second class II-53 road

Polikraishte PolikraishteVillage of Poli ...

–

Yambol Yambol ( ) is a city in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''. Yambol is the administrative cente ...

– Sredets.

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 Sliven Province Landforms of Targovishte Province Landforms of Veliko Tarnovo Province