The Retizhe ( bg, Ретиже) 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 right tributary of the

Mesta The ''Mesta'' () was a powerful association protecting livestock owners and their animals in the Crown of Castile that was incorporated in the 13th century and was dissolved in 1836. Although best known for its organisation of the annual migrat ...

. The river is 19 km long and drains parts of the eastern slopes of the

Pirin , photo=Pirin-mountains-Bansko.jpg , photo_caption=Pirin scenery in winter , country= Bulgaria, , parent= , geology= granite, gneiss, marble, limestone , area_km2=2585 , range_coordinates = , length_km=80 , length_orientation= north-s ...

mountain range. The river takes its source from Pirin's largest and deepest glacial lake, Popovo, at an altitude of 2,234 m. At an altitude of 2,174 m near the Fish Popovi Lakes it is joined by two mountain streams — one from the north sloping down the summit of

Polezhan Polezhan ( bg, Полежан , known pre-1942 as Mangar Tepe ( ) is a 2,851 m cone shaped high peak in the Pirin mountain range, south-western Bulgaria. It is the highest granite summit in Pirin and the fourth highest in the mountain range ...

(2,851 m), and one from the west coming from the Polezhanski Lakes. Further downstream another stream coming from the

Kremenski Lakes Kremenski Lakes () are a lake group in the Pirin mountains, southwestern Bulgaria composed of two larger and two smaller lakes situated in a narrow but salient cirque of the same name. They are surrounded by the peaks Sivriya and Dzhano and the ...

flows into the Retizhe. It then flows in north-eastern direction in a deep valley, forming rapids and small waterfalls. Downstream the valley becomes deeper and is covered with dense forests. Some four kilometres before its mouth the Retizhe turns in eastern direction and forms a deep impassable canyon. It flows into the Mesta at Momina Klisura Gorge at an altitude of 646 m near the village of

Bansko Municipality Bansko Municipality ( bg, Община Банско, translit=Obshtina Bansko) is situated in southwestern Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. ...

. The village is the only settlement along the course of the river. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 44 km² or 1.33% of Mesta's total. The main tributary is the Kremeshnitsa, which flows into the Retizhe close to its confluence with the Mesta. The river has predominantly snow-rain feed with high water in summer (June) and low water in winter (February). The average annual flow is 1.33 m³/s. Only a small part of the river's water resources are utilised for hydroelectricity. There are five small hydro power stations with a combined installed capacity of 10 MW. The river sustains large populations of

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

Honours

Retizhe Cove Retizhe Cove ( bg, залив Ретиже, ‘Zaliv Retizhe’ \'za-liv re-ti-'zhe\) is the 5.8 km wide cove indenting for 6.2 km on the south coast of Trinity Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica. Part of Duse Bay, entered between Boil Point ...

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 contine ...

is named after the river.

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Dushkov, 1972 , title = Пирин. Туристически речник , trans-title = Pirin. Tourist Dictionary , last1 = Душков (Dushkov) , first1 = Добри (Dobri) , year = 1972 , language = Bulgarian , publisher = Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura) , location = София (

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

) , isbn = Rivers of Bulgaria Landforms of Blagoevgrad Province Pirin