Rzav (Zlatibor)
Rzav valley near Vardiste
In Rzav valley near Dobrun
The monastery Dobrun
The Rzav (Cyrillic Рзав ) is a right tributary of the Drina in the extreme east of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It arises from the springing to the west of Serbia headwaters Beli Rzav ( "White Rzav " ) and Crni Rzav ( "Black Rzav " ) and flows into the Drina in Visegrad.
Other common names for the combined flow are Veliki Rzav ( " Big Rzav " ) or Zlatibor Rzav ( " Rzav from the Zlatibor ").
Course
Beli Rzav
The right source of the river Rzav rises in the west of the Serbian National Parks Tara on the eastern slope of the Zvijezda Mountains. The source is located south of the city Bajina Basta. At the village Zaovine the river is dammed for hydropower generation. The Beli Rzav then runs west of the 1544 m high Zboriste massif initially in a southerly direction before he turns in Kotroman to the west and passes through the Bosnian border.
The Beli Rzav has a length of 23 km and a catchment area of 205 km ².
Crni Rzav
The longer left frontal flow created in the central part of the Zlatibor mountains near Čajetina on the mountain Čigota. In Zlatibor he is dammed to a reservoir, the 10 km ² Ribnica reservoir. The Crni Rzav then runs in narrow, deep valleys to the west and cross the Bosnian border at Gornje Vardiste. There the river Jablanica from left opens out before the Crni Rzav combined at Donje Vardiste with the Beli Rzav.
Rzav
The combined Rzav flows behind Vardiste by deep gorges into sections in a westerly direction and reaches the first place Dobrun, who is known for his monastery. Behind Dobrun the valley opens to a narrow, arable plain between the mountains and Zvijezda Suha gora ( Varda ). In Visegrad, the river flows into the Drina; The city is situated on a headland between two waters.
The Black and the united Rzav have a total length of 72 km and a catchment area of 605 km ². The Rzav belongs to the catchment area of the Black Sea and is navigable over its entire length.
Traffic
The valley of the Rzav is in this area the most important historical traffic corridor between Bosnia and Serbia dar. Even in the Ottoman Empire was the road link between Istanbul and the Regional Centre Sarajevo by the Rzav Gorge; later, the bridge on the Drina in Visegrad was built, which illustrates the importance of the traffic route. 1906 the Austrians opened the route of the Bosnian Eastern Railway (Sarajevo- Vardiste ) along the Rzav and in the 20th century by the building of the main road 5, which in turn connects Bosnia and Serbia.
Several partly decayed or completely ruined watchtowers and fortifications along the Rzav Gorge testify to the importance of the road corridor in different eras.
Sources and footnotes
- Jovan Đ. Marković (1990 ): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije; Svjetlost Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6
- Drina river system
- River in Europe
- River in Serbia
- River in Bosnia and Herzegovina