Morava (river)

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Morava
The Morava drainage region with the main tributaries

The Morava drainage region with the main tributaries

Data
location East Serbia
River system Danube
Drain over Danube  → Black Sea
origin Confluence of the Western Morava and the Southern Morava
43 ° 41 ′ 59 ″  N , 21 ° 24 ′ 15 ″  E
Source height 132  m. i. J.
muzzle in the Danube Coordinates: 44 ° 42 ′ 49 ″  N , 21 ° 2 ′ 15 ″  E 44 ° 42 ′ 49 ″  N , 21 ° 2 ′ 15 ″  E
Mouth height 65  m. i. J.
Height difference 67 m
Bottom slope 0.36 ‰
length 185 km
Catchment area 37,444 km²
Drainage at the Ljubičevski most gauge NNQ
MQ
HHQ
30 m³ / s
240 m³ / s
1056 m³ / s
Medium-sized cities Ćuprija
The Morava near Svilajnac

The Morava near Svilajnac

The mouth of the Morava near Požarevac around 1916

The Morava ( Serbian Велика Морава Velika Morava , German also Great Morava ) is a right tributary of the Danube and main river of Serbia . The Morava flows into the Danube below Belgrade at Smederevo . The so-called Great Morava arises from the confluence of the Western Morava and the Southern Morava near Stalać. The catchment area, a total of 37,440 km², lies mainly on Serbian soil except for 1207 km² in Bulgaria , Montenegro , Kosovo and an area of ​​a few square kilometers in North Macedonia .

The main part of the hydrogeographic system of the Morava follows the tectonic line of the Morava-Vardar Trench . This trench, which runs through the entire central Balkan Peninsula, connects the Pannonian Plain with the Aegean Sea and, in its northern and central part with the river system of the Great and Southern Morava, also forms the lifeline of Serbia, making it the most important communication line and an important settlement area of ​​the country.

Branching off from the Great Valley and the Southern Morava, the western tributaries of the Western Morava and Toplica lead the natural connecting routes to Western Serbia, Raška , Bosnia , Montenegro and Kosovo , as well as the eastern tributary of the Nišava to Bulgaria. The central place in the Morava Valley is Niš , which lies in a larger valley widening on the Nišava above its confluence with the Southern Morava and has been the strategic node between the north-south and west-east running traffic routes to the Aegean and Black Sea since ancient times.

geography

The Great Morava arises from the confluence of the Western Morava and the Southern Morava near Stalać south of Varvarin and flows into the Danube 185 km east of Smederevo at 66 m above sea level. From the confluence of the Western and Southern Morava, the Morava flows in a wide valley with many meanders and all signs of a lowland river. Only between Bagrdan and Lapovo is there another 16 km long gorge-like narrowing of the valley.

The southern Morava rises on the northern slope of the Skopska Crna Gora mountains north of Skopje , flows first to the northeast, then from Grdelica to the northwest. The Western Morava rises between Javor and Golija , flows first as Moravica north to the confluence of the Đetina at Požega , then first north-east, from Čačak south-east in a relatively wide valley.

The Great and Southern Morava, which are only separated from the Vardar area by a 460 meter high valley watershed north of Kumanovo , form with it the so-called Morava-Vardar furrow, which is around 500 kilometers long. The tectonic guideline has been one of the most important thoroughfares from Pannonia to the Aegean Sea since ancient times and is now part of the traffic corridor X central traffic artery of Serbia. The Morava Valley is bounded by the mountain systems of the Dinarides to the west and the Serbian Carpathians and the Stara Planina to the east. These mountains are roofed towards the Morava valley, but there are numerous narrow passages and gorges. In particular, these characterize the Western Morava with its tributaries as well as the Southern Morava. In contrast, the Great Morava has only a shorter valley narrowing south of Batočina . Before the regulation from 1966 it meandered through it and was therefore much longer than it is today. The former branches of the river, separated by artificial and natural silting , are called moravište .

At least three tributaries of the Morava are called Moravica (German roughly: Small Morava). The most important also gives its name to a Serbian district (see Moravica (river) and Moravica (district) ). The largest city on the banks of the Great Morava is Ćuprija , on the western Morava lie Kraljevo and Kruševac on the southern Morava Leskovac and Vranje .

Hydrology

The catchment area of ​​the Morava covers 37,444 km², which corresponds to about two fifths of the area of ​​Serbia. The average discharge is 258 m³ / s. Of this, 118 m³ / s are accounted for by the Western Morava (especially Ibar , Golijska Moravica , Đetinja ), 112 m³ / s by the South Morava (especially Nišava , Toplica , Vlasina ). The tributaries of the Great Morava, on the other hand, only account for 28 m³ / s of the discharge volume (especially Resava ). The runoff coefficient is 29 percent of the precipitation.

The flow regime of the Morava is nivo - pluvial (snowmelt and precipitation regime), which is characterized by floods in March / April. The lowest water course is then recorded in September and August. The maximum discharge measured on the Morava was approx. 2500 m³ / s (May 4, 1958). The flood hazard of the Morava results from the dense agricultural settlement. Over 220,000 hectares in the catchment area are classified as flood-prone areas (that's 6% of the total catchment area). In 1965 alone, 102,000 hectares were flooded. Due to the risk of flooding, there is only one larger town in the valley of the Great Morava, Čačak.

left source river, length: 308 km; Catchment area: 15,849 km².
right source river, length: 295 km; Catchment area: 15,469 km²

The flow rate of the river was measured over 53 years (1931–84) at the Lubicevsky Most station, about 15 kilometers upstream from the mouth. The mean annual flow rate observed in Lubicevsky Most during this period was 240 m³ / s.

use

The river is no longer navigable today , but there have been various plans in the past to further expand the Morava and make it navigable again. However, these have not yet been implemented.

Culture

The Morava is celebrated in many songs and poems because of its cultural significance. The Romans named the river Margus . In Peter Handke's story, The Moravian Night (2008), the river plays a decisive role.

The Morava in Literature

In one chapter of the novel The Book of Eden by Kai Meyer , the protagonists march along the Morava around 1258, are attacked by a band of robbers and saved by the Serbian king.

literature

  • Petar Vlahović: Morava . Zavod za Udžbenike i Nastavna Sredstva, Beograd 2006, ISBN 86-17-13985-4 .
  • Ivan Bertić (ed.): Veliki Geografski Atlas Jugoslavije . Sveučilišna naklada Liber, Zagreb, 1987, ISBN 86-329-0125-7 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Danube Basin, Station: Lubicevsky Most. Data from the bridge station near Ljubičevo near Požarevac, accessed on May 20, 2012
  2. Westermann Lexicon of Geography (Ed. Wolf Tietze). Vol. III, LR, 1104 S. Westermann, Braunschweig, 2nd edition, 1973.
  3. ^ Vojna Enciklopedija. Drugo izdanje, 5, Lafos - Naukrat. Beograd, 1973.
  4. ^ Veliki Geografski Atlas Jugoslavije (1987). (Ed. Ivan Bertić), Sveučilišna naklada Liber, Zagreb, 1987.
  5. ^ Vlahović Petar (2006): Morava . Zavod za Uđbenike i nastavna Sredstva. Beograd.
  6. The Morava Lubicevsky Most