The Palakaria ( bg, Палакария) is a river in south-western
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 Macedon ...
, a left tributary of the
Iskar.
The river is 39 km long and takes its source from the southern slopes of the summit of Kupena in
Vitosha
Vitosha ( bg, Витоша ), the ancient ''Scomius'' or ''Scombrus'', is a mountain massif, on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Vitosha is one of the symbols of Sofia and the closest site for hiking, alpinism and skiing. Conveni ...
mountain range at an altitude of 2,015 m.
It flows in southern direction and turns to the south-east downstream of the village of
Yarlovo
Yarlovo ( bg, Ярлово) is a village in Samokov municipality of Sofia Province in South-West Bulgaria. It is located 24 kilometers away from Sofia. Located on the West slope of the Vitosha mountain massif, the altitude exceeds 1000 meters. ...
and flows through a wide valley known as Palakariata between the mountain ranges of
Plana to the north-east and
Verila
Verila Mountain ( bg, Верила ) is a minor range in Western Bulgaria extending 20 km in northwest–southeast direction between Vitosha and Rila Mountains and 12 km wide. Its summit Golyam Debelets Peak rises to 1415 m.Soviet military maK-34 ...
to the south-west. At the village of
Belchin it turns to the east and flows through the Samokov valley very close to
Relyovo. Palakaria then turns in north-eastern direction at the village of
Rayovo and to the north downstream of the village of
Shiroki Dol. It flows into the Iskar at an altitude of 827 m. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 402 km² or 4.7% of Iskar's total.
The average annual flow is 1.85 m
3/s at the village of Relyovo.
The river flows through the village of Yarlovo,
Kovachevtsi,
Popovyane, Belchin, Relyovo, Rayovo and Shiroki Dol in
Samokov
Samokov ( bg, Самоков ) is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a basin between the mountains Rila and Vitosha, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due to the suitable winter sports conditions, Sam ...
Municipality,
Sofia Province
Sofia Province ( bg, Софийска област, translit=Sofiyska oblast) is a province (''oblast'') of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains its administrative center. The province borders on t ...
. Its waters are used to irrigation.
Citations
References
* {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria, 1980
, title = Географски речник на България
, trans-title = Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria
, last1 = Мичев (Michev)
, first1 = Николай (Nikolay)
, last2 = Михайлов (Mihaylov)
, first2 = Цветко (Tsvetko)
, last3 = Вапцаров (Vaptsarov)
, first3 = Иван (Ivan)
, last4 = Кираджиев (Kiradzhiev)
, first4 = Светлин (Svetlin)
, chapter =
, year = 1980
, language = Bulgarian
, publisher = Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura)
, location = София (Sofia)
, isbn =
Rivers of Bulgaria
Landforms of Sofia Province