Vjosa

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Vjosa
Vjosë, Aoos, Αώος
Map of southern Albania

Map of southern Albania

Data
location Greece , Albania
River system Vjosa
source at Mavrovouni ( Pindus )
muzzle In Albania in the Adriatic Coordinates: 40 ° 38 ′ 34 ″  N , 19 ° 19 ′ 2 ″  E 40 ° 38 ′ 34 ″  N , 19 ° 19 ′ 2 ″  E
Mouth height 0  m

length 272 km
Catchment area 6706 km²
Drain MQ
 204 m³ / s
Left tributaries Drinos , Bënça , Shushica
Right tributaries Sarantaporos, Lengarica , Lumica
Reservoirs flowed through Kalivaç hydropower plant (under construction)
Small towns Tepelena , Përmet , Konitsa , Selenica
Old Konitsa Bridge

Old Konitsa Bridge

In the Këlcyra gorge

In the Këlcyra gorge

Vjosa at Tepelena

Vjosa at Tepelena

View from Byllis to the lower reaches of the Vjosa

View from Byllis to the lower reaches of the Vjosa

The Vjosa ( Albanian  Vjosë ) or Aoos ( Greek Αώος ) is a river that rises in Epirus in northwestern Greece and flows into the Adriatic Sea in Albania .

The course of the Vjosa river has been spared from excessive settlement and industrialization to this day. The estuary is also located away from larger towns in an untouched coastal strip. The Vjosa is one of the few larger natural rivers in Europe.

Surname

In Greece the Vjosa is called Aoos; the names Vojioussa and Vovoussa ( Greek Βωβούσα ) are also common. In addition to Aoos and Vjosa , the term Anio was also used in ancient times . The latter goes back to Anios, a figure in Greek mythology. Anios was the son of Apollo and Rhoeo .

River course

origin

The river has its source in the Pindus Mountains east of Ioannina . The source is located on Mavrovouni Mountain . The course of the Vjosa leads consistently to the northwest. The river has a length of around 272 kilometers, the first 80 of which are on Greek territory. The Vjosa drains an area of ​​6706 km². 2154 km² of it lie within Greece - the only Greek area that is drained into the Adriatic. The average flow rate at the mouth is 204 m³ / s. In April the flow rate is around ten times higher than in August.

Upper course

The upper reaches of Greece mostly run through wooded mountainous landscapes . Part of it is protected as the Vikos-Aoos National Park , which extends around the Tymfi Mountains ( 2497  m ). Brown bears still live in the second largest nature reserve in Greece . The Voidomatis, a tributary of the Aoos, forms the impressive Vikos Gorge . The area is called Zagoria and is known as a hiking destination as well as for its beautiful villages, where many traditional stone houses in the Epirotic style are still preserved. Not far from Konitsa within the national park, the Aoos also passes a narrow gorge. A historic stone arch bridge crosses the Aoos near Konitsa. From here on, the river valley is used for agriculture.

Middle course

At Përmet

Behind Konitsa the river passes the Greek-Albanian border. At this point the tributary Sarantaporos flows in from the east and forms the border for a few kilometers. A new border crossing now enables people to continue following the valley.

In Albania, too, the Vjosa still flows through mostly natural landscapes. The valley floor and the bank terraces are nevertheless used intensively for agriculture in places. The river follows the very steep Nemërçka mountain range; from the right it takes the Lengarica and later the Lumica . The main town of this section is Përmet . At Këlcyra the river turns to the west and cuts through the Trebeshina - Dhëmbel - Nemërçka mountain range between the mountains Trebeshina and Dhëmbel. At Tepelena , the Drinos tributary flows in , which also drains the area around Gjirokastra from Greece . Shortly afterwards the Bënça flows in from the west . From here on, the pollution of the water by urban sewage increases significantly. The mountains on the river banks lose significantly in height in the further course.

In a recent narrow breakdown between a range of hills is currently the village Kalivaç the hydroelectric plant Kalivaç built. Construction on the dam about 25 kilometers south of Tepelena began in 2008 or shortly before, but was discontinued in 2010. The dam is to be 500 meters long and 60 meters wide. In 2014, conservationists called for power plants to be abandoned on the Vjosa and for the “wild river” to be declared a national park. The licensed Italian company plans an output of 93.9  MW .

Lower course

In the lower reaches between the cities of Fier and Vlora , the Vjosa crosses the Myzeqe plain , the river is very wide and meanders . The most important tributary in this region is the Shushica , which joins Selenica on the left .

In the past, the course of the river bed changed repeatedly in the flat coastal plain. Before an earthquake in the 3rd century , the river bed was a few kilometers further north. The old Apollonia was then located on a hill near the river and the Vjosa was navigable from the sea to the ancient city. The port of Appolonia was the starting point for the Via Egnatia . The earthquake silted up the port and the city suffered rapid decline.

literature

  • Despoina Amanatidou: Analysis and evaluation of a traditional cultural landscape as a basis for its conservation management. A case study in Vikos-Aoos National Park - Greece . Dissertation. Freiburg im Breisgau 2005 ( short version and full text ).
  • Arqile Berxholi: Ndryshimet në gjeografine e popullsise në zonën Vjose - deti Jon. Studim demographics. Tirana 1987.
  • Lars Abromeit: Vjosa - the price of electricity . In: GEO . No. December 12 , 2015, p. 144-158 .
  • Tilman Botzenhardt: Europe's last wild river . In: GEO . No. September 9 , 2014 ( article online ).
  • Eric Fouache, Gjiovalin Gruda, Skender Mucaj: Dynamique géomorphologique et évolution de la navigation maritime depuis l'antiquité dans les deltas du Seman et de la Vjosë (Région d'Apollonia, Albanie) . In: Claudio Zaccaria (ed.): Strutture portuali e rotte marittime nell'Adriatico di età Romana. (=  Antichità altoadriatiche . Band 46 ). Trieste 2001, ISBN 2-7283-0634-6 , pp. 107 ff .

Web links

Commons : Vjosa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hidrocentrali italian mbi Vjose. (No longer available online.) In: Koha Jonë . February 25, 2007, archived from the original on July 7, 2011 ; Retrieved April 18, 2009 .
  2. ↑ Voice of America TV report on YouTube
  3. ^ Albania: Vjosa National Park instead of dams. In: Pelagon. May 9, 2014, accessed May 11, 2014 .