Lepenac

Lepenac Лепенац, Lepenc, Lepenci, Lumi i Lepencit, Lepenec, Лепенец
The Lepenac a little north of Skopje
Data
location	Kosovo North Macedonia
River system	Vardar
Drain over	Vardar  → Thermaic Gulf
source	Kodža Balkan -Gebirge 42 ° 12 '25 "  N , 20 ° 52' 12"  O
Source height	1820  m
muzzle	Skopje coordinates: 42 ° 0 ′ 46 ″  N , 21 ° 23 ′ 0 ″  E 42 ° 0 ′ 46 ″  N , 21 ° 23 ′ 0 ″  E
Mouth height	262  m
Height difference	1558 m
Bottom slope	21 ‰
length	75 km
Catchment area	770 km²
Left tributaries	Vardar
Big cities	Skopje , North Macedonia
Medium-sized cities	Kaçanik , Kosovo
Communities	Han i Elezit , Kosovo
The Kaçanik Gorge (2008)

The Lepenac ( Albanian  Lepenci , Macedonian Лепенец / Lepenec ) is a river in the south of Kosovo and in the north of North Macedonia . It is a left tributary of the Vardars with a length of around 75 kilometers.

course

Source to Amselfeld level

The Lepenac rises east of the town of Prizren in the Kodža Balkan Mountains at an altitude of 1820  m . First it flows eastwards into the area of Sirinić between the southeast slopes of the Žar Mountains and the northwest slopes of the Šar Planina . The latter feeds it through many small streams. The Lepenac continues to flow through the Brezovica ski area to Štrpce . The river then continues into the Blackbird Field, where it bends south of the town of Sopotnica and leaves the Blackbird Field again.

Kaçanik Gorge to Skopje Plain

As a result, the Lepenac flows around the city of Kaçanik in the west, before entering the Kaçanik Gorge . The gorge is the narrowest part of the river valley and is located east of the Šar Planina and west of the Skopska Crna Gora . It connects the blackbird field with the Skopje plain . The gorge is 23 kilometers long and consists of limestone and slate . The places Pustenik and Han i Elezit are located in the Kaçanik Gorge.

According to Han i Elezit, the Lepenac becomes a border river between Kosovo and North Macedonia, before it leaves the gorge at Seçishta and flows out of Kosovo after 60 kilometers.

Plain from Skopje to estuary

For the remaining 15 kilometers, the Lepenac flows through the Skopje plain , which is part of the Vardar valley. After entering the plain, it is fed on the left by several small streams from the Skopska Crna Gora Mountains. The Lepenac has no major settlements along its north Macedonian course before reaching the suburbs of Skopje, Bardovci and Novo Selo . In the district of Gjorče Petrov it flows into the Vardar at an altitude of 262  m .

features

The Lepenac belongs to the Aegean catchment area . Its catchment area is 770 square kilometers, 695 square kilometers are in Kosovo and 75 square kilometers in North Macedonia. It is not navigable.

The Kaçanik Gorge is an important connection between Kosovo and North Macedonia along the route from Kraljevo in Serbia via Pristina to Skopje.

literature

• Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija . Third edition (1985); Prosveta; ISBN 86-07-00001-2 .
• Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije . Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6 .