Maritsa River

The Evros or Maritsa (Bulgarian Марица; Greek Έβρος, Évros, romanized as Hebro; Turkish < i>Meriç), is a river that originates in the northwest of the Rila Mountain, which is in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is the largest watercourse in Thrace, and is about 480 km in length.

Description

The valley of the birth of the Maritsa River, in the Rila Mountains.

The Evros runs through southeastern Bulgaria, between the Balkans and the Rhodope Mountains, past Plovdiv, to Edirne in Turkey, where it turns south to enter the Aegean Sea near Enez, where it forms a delta. It is situated in East Macedonia-Thrace, and to the north is the border between Greece and Bulgaria and to the south the border between Greece and Turkey.

The Tundzha is its main tributary. The Arda is another of the tributaries.

A small section (15 km approx.) of the northern branch runs entirely through Turkey. The border was thus drawn to prevent the riverside city of Edirne from having a Greek shore opposite it.

The lower reaches of the Maritsa is part of the Greco-Bulgarian and Greco-Turkish borders.

The upper Maritsa valley is the main east-west route in Bulgaria. It is not a navigable river and is used for the production of energy and irrigation of the land.

The plain of the ancient city of Dorisco (10 km from the coast) was located in the lower course of the said river.

Riverside cities

Places through which the river flows include Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Dimitrovgrad and Svilengrad in Bulgaria, Edirne in Turkey and Kastanies, Pythio, Didymotic and Lavara in Greece.

Mythology

In Greek mythology, the Hebro is known as the river into which the Thracian Bacchae threw Orpheus's head and lyre after tearing him to pieces. They killed him on Mount Rhodope, when Orpheus refused to have intercourse with any woman after having lost his wife Eurydice.