Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
. It is a tributary of the
Maritsa
Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,Rhodope Mountains near the village
Arda
Arda or ARDA may refer to:
Places
*Arda (Maritsa), a river in Bulgaria and Greece
* Arda (Italy), a river in Italy
*Arda (Douro), a river in Portugal
* Arda, Bulgaria, a village in southern Bulgaria
* Arda, County Fermanagh, a townland in County ...
, part of the municipality of Smolyan. It flows eastward past
Rudozem
Rudozem ( bg, Рудозем ) is a town in southern Bulgaria, near the Greek border, located in the Rhodope Mountains, where the Elhovo and Chepino rivers flow into the Arda, and is part of Smolyan Province. It is the administrative centre of the ...
,
Kardzhali
Kardzhali ( bg, Кърджали , ''Kărdžali''; tr, Kırcaali; gr, Κάρτζαλι, ''Kártzali''), sometimes spelt Kardžali or Kurdzhali, is a town in the Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria, centre of Kardzhali Municipality and Kardzhali Pro ...
and
Ivaylovgrad
Ivaylovgrad ( bg, Ивайловград, "city of Ivaylo") is a town in Haskovo Province in the south of Bulgaria set near the river Arda in the easternmost part of the Rhodope Mountains, and is the administrative centre of the homonymous Ivayl ...
and enters Greece in the northern part of the Evros regional unit. It flows into the Maritsa on the border of Greece and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, between the Greek village
Kastanies
Kastanies ( el, Καστανιές, meaning " chestnuts", tr, Kestanelik which means "chestnut" too) is a town located in northern part of the regional unit of Evros, Greece, and is part of the municipal unit of Vyssa. It is situated at the bord ...
and the Turkish city
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...
. In the Bulgarian section there are three hydroelectric and
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s,
Kardzhali Dam
The Kardzhali Reservoir is a reservoir formed by the ''Kardzhali Dam'', situated less than 1 km to the west of the town of Kardzhali in Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria. It is the second largest reservoir by volume in the country.
The dam was c ...
Rhodopes
The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...
. The medieval Dyavolski most arch bridge crosses the river from Ardino.
The three floods of February 18, 2005, when the water level was at , March 1 and March 7, 2005, flooded the low-lying areas, especially in the Kastanies area which turned the area into a lagoon. The merging of the waters of the Maritsa (Evros/Meriç) caused streets and buildings including homes to be flooded and people to be stranded in their homes.
Arda Peak on
Livingston Island
Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...
in the
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...
,
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
and the mineral
ardaite
Ardaite is a very rare sulfosalt mineral with chemical formula Pb19Sb13S35Cl7 in the monoclinic crystal system, named after the Arda River, which passes through the type locality. It was discovered in 1978 and approved by the International Minera ...
are named after the Arda river.
Archeology and places of interest
The Arda valley and the valleys of its tributaries have been a preferred place for habitation since ancient times. A settlement from 6,000 BC was discovered during the construction works in the area of the town of Kardzhali. Many archeological sites were discovered in the region, including the famous Thracian cult complexes Perperek, known as
Perperikon
The ancient Thracian city of Perperikon (also Perpericum; bg, Перперикон, el, Περπερικόν) is located in the Eastern Rhodopes, 15 km northeast of the present-day town of Kardzhali, Bulgaria on a 470 m high rocky hill ...
for the last 20 years, as well as the sacred site of Tatul. To cross the ancient roads to the Aegean, several stone bridges were built on the river, impressive in size and architecture. One fully preserved bridge is the Devil's Bridge in the area of the village of Dyadovtsi (Ardino municipality). There are remnants of bridges in several places in the region: near the villages of Suhovo and Borovitsa, and another three have remained under the waters of the dams.
Gallery
File:Devils-bridge-Ardino1.jpg, Devil's bridge near Ardino
File:Arda Meanders.jpg, Arda's Meander in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
