The Llapi River is a river in the north-eastern part of

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. The long right tributary to the

Sitnica The Sitnica (; sr-Cyrl, Ситница) is a river in Kosovo. It flows into the Ibar at Mitrovica, and it is the longest river that flows completely within Kosovo. History In the 14th century, during the reign of king Milutin, a canal con ...

river, it is the main river in the Llap (region) depression.

Etymology

The etymology of the river's name is derived from a pre-Slavic form ''Alb'' that underwent linguistic metathesis within Slavic giving the final form as ''Lab''. The name of the river was first used in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, but has been preserved in the New Age. Many scholars take the hydronym Lab as ancient and derive it from an alb-, from which lab-, alp- could come. The phonetic form for

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

speakers is Llap. In the Middle Ages, the form Lapia is found.

History

Near its origin are the remains of one of the medieval palaces of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

King Milutin Stefan Uroš II Milutin ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош II Милутин, Stefan Uroš II Milutin; 1253 – 29 October 1321), known as Saint King, was the King of Serbia between 1282–1321, a member of the Nemanjić dynasty. He was one o ...

(1282-1321) called Vrhlab. Ottoman writer Evliya Celebi mentioned the Llapi river as having "its source in Albania" and joining other rivers before flowing into the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, during one of his travels to Kosovo in the 1660s.

Overview

The Llapi River originates in the northernmost village of Podujevë,

Murgull Murgull is a village in the municipality of Podujevo, Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by ...

, with a secondary source in the village of Pollatë. After descending from the mountains, it flows southward through Podujevë. Close to

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

and

Obiliq Obiliq, ) or Obilić ( sr-cyr, Обилић, ), also referred to as Kastriot ( sq-definite, Kastrioti, ) is a town and municipality in Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) estimate from the 2011 census, there were 21,549 peo ...

, the river turns westwards of its origin and joins the Sitnica river, in the village of Lumadh. The width of the river changes due to the dynamics of rivers, it is around 9–12 meters at the hydrometric point in Lluzhan and it has a depth up to , that varies based on the season and the location.

Notes

References

External links