Varbitsa

General data

Name: Varbitsa
Water system: Maritsa (Evros)
Water type: River
Progression: Studen Kladenets Reservoir -> Arda (Maritsa tributary) -> Maritsa (Evros) -> Aegean Sea -> Mediterranean Sea -> Atlantic Ocean -> Planet Earth
Climates: Subtropical, Temperate
Continents: Europe, Asia, Europe
Countries: Bulgaria

The Varbitsa is a 98 km long river in the eastern Rhodope Mountains in southern Bulgaria. It is the longest and the largest tributary of the Arda. The Varbitsa is Bulgaria's most temperamental river, with up to 5,000 times difference in water volume between spring highs and autumn lows, with frequent massive flooding and erosion as a result. Its middle and lower valley is considered the boundary between the western and the eastern Rhodopes.

The main stem of the Varbitsa is the river Erma reka, which takes its source in the western Rhodope Mountains at an altitude of 1,284 m on northern foothills of the summit of Margazyan on the Bulgaria–Greece border, southwest of the village of Marzyan. It initially flows eastwards until the road Madan–Zlatograd, when it turns southeast and runs through a narrow deep valley covered with dense deciduous forests. In the town of Zlatograd it receives the river Malka reka. Downstream from the town its valley widens and forms numerous meanders in a less densely forested area. Near the village of Fotinovo the Varbitsa turns north and maintains that direction until its mouth. Its valley widens significantly. It flows into the Studen Kladenets Reservoir on the Arda at an altitude of 227 m near the village of Sokolsko.

The Varbitsa drains significant areas of the ridges Zhalti Dyal in the western Rhodope Mountains and Gyumyurdzhinski Snezhnik and Stramni Rid in the eastern Rhodopes. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 1,203 km2

Varbitsa

General data

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