The Tazha ( bg, Тъжа) is a river in southern

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 river

Tundzha The Tundzha ( bg, Тунджа , tr, Tunca , el, Τόνζος ) is a river in Bulgaria and Turkey (known in antiquity as the Tonsus) and the most significant tributary of the Maritsa, emptying into it on Turkish territory near Edirne. The rive ...

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 , Its upper course falls within the

Dzhendema Dzhendema or Djendema ( bg, Джендема ) is an area in the Balkan Mountains, Balkan mountain range in Bulgaria. The Southern Dzhendem, or just Dzhendema, occupies the southern slopes of Botev Peak, Mount Botev . It was established as reserve ...

nature reserve of the

Central Balkan National Park The Central Balkan National Park ( bg, Национален парк Централен Балкан) lies in the heart of Bulgaria, nestled in the central and higher portions of the Balkan Mountains. Its altitude varies from 550 m. near the town ...

Geography

The Tazha takes its source at an altitude of 1,726 m in the Kalofer division of the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

, at 1.4 km south of the summit of Maragidik (1,889 m). In its first four kilometers the river flows eastwards and then bends south in a densely forested deep, at places canyon–like, valley with steep slopes. Northwest of the village of Tazha it leaves the mountain range, forms a large

alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...

, turns southeast and enters the

Kazanlak Valley Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлък , Thracian and Greek Σευθόπολις (''Seuthopolis''), tr, Kazanlık) is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain ...

. It flows into the Tundzha at an altitude of 440 m some 2.3 km southeast of the village of Tarnicheni. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 116 km² or 1.38% of the Tundzha's total. The river has two main right tributaries, the Dalboka reka and the Armichalanka, as well as numerous smaller tributaries. The Tazha has predominantly snow–rain feed with high water in April–May. The average annual flow is at the village of Tazha is 2.2 m³/s.

Settlements and tourism

The river flows in the provinces of

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

and

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province. Name The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...

. There are two villages along its course, Tazha and Tarnicheni, both in Pavel Banya Municipality of Stara Zagora Province. Its waters are utilised for irrigation and for electricity production via the small Tazha Hydro Power Plant. The Tazha river valley is known for its pristine nature and offers favourable conditions for tourism and family recreation. There are beautiful waterfalls along the river and some of its tributaries, the largest of which are Kademliysko Praskalo (72 m), located on its small left tributary, the Kademliyska reka, and

Babsko Praskalo Babsko Praskalo ( bg, Бабско пръскало) is a waterfall in the Central Balkan National Park, Balkan Mountains, central Bulgaria. With a height of 54 m the waterfall is among the lowest in the area. Babsko Praskalo is located near th ...

(54 m) on its left tributary the Babska reka. Before leaving the Balkan Mountains, the river forms the remarkable 2.5 km long Tazha Gorge with slopes reaching height of 300–400 m.

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 Plovdiv Province Landforms of Stara Zagora Province