Rivers - the Mellifuous Eyes of Slovenia

The fact that this nation is a land of water is most eloquently asserted by its ramified network of rivers. Because of the porous nature of limestone most of the rivers in the Karst region are subterranean, but the rest of Slovenia has a conspicuously dense network of watercourses. Over several millions of years, rivers have determined the image of the landscape: they have created narrow valleys in the mountains and filled the broad valley plains with deposits of sediment.

The Sava river is both the central and the longest river in Slovenia. It has a number of tributaries, including the Tržiška Bistrica, Savinja, Ljubljanica and the Krka. Its 219 km course flows from the source of the Sava Dolinka at the Zelenci marsh (833 m) near Kranjska Gora, to the Croatian border. Its second source, the Sava Bohinjka, flows from lake Bohinj to Radovljica, where it converges with the Sava Dolinka.

For many, the Ljubljanica is merely the name of a 41 km long river which slowly winds its way from its source at Vrhnika across the flat Ljubljana Marsh. However, those more acquainted with its karstic secrets call it the "River with Seven Names".

The Savinja river basin embraces much of central-northern Slovenia. The river itself, which is slightly more than 100 km long, rises in Logarska Dolina, the most picturesque and largest glaciated valley in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. It emerges as an untamed alpine stream which calms down as it reaches the Celje Basin.

The Krka river, the jewel of Slovenia's central-southern region of Dolenjska, is after the Ljubljanica the country's most typical karstic river. It is renowned for its characteristic green colour, lazy current and reasonably clean water.

The Kolpa river, which marks Slovenia's southern border with Croatia, is the largest river lying within Dinaric Slovenia, and has cut a deep and picturesque valley into the thick limestone strata.

The Drava rises in the high Dolomites of Italy's northern Tyrol, and then passes through central southern Austria before reaching the Slovene frontier. Its Slovene section is 144km long.

The Mura has, perhaps more than any other Slovene river, left its mark on the landscape through which it flows. It rises in the Alps of Austria's High Tauern. However, by its 98-km long Slovene section the river has already become a typical Pannonian lowland river, meandering back and forth across plains, gradually changing its course over the centuries.

The poet Simon Gregorčič once wrote of the Soča river that it was a "lucid daughter of the mountains, graceful in all her natural beauty", something which still sands to this day. Foreign naturalists are also of the unanimous opinion that the Soča is one of the five most beautiful Alpine rivers which have retained their picturesque originality.

Sava

The Sava river is both the central and the longest river in Slovenia. The course of the Sava well illustrates Slovenia's regional diversity. It rises as a typical alpine river with numerous waterfalls, gorges and rapids, then flows through sub-Alpine hills to the edge of the Pannonian Plain not far from the town of Brežice, where it becomes a typically lowland river. It is primarily the upper reaches of the Sava which are of greater tourist and recreational significance.

Although both the Sava Dolinka and Sava Bohinjka rise from the foot of the Julian Alps, their sources could not be more different. The Sava Bohinjka, which is more suitable for water sports, emerges from a cave half-way up a high cliff and immediately pours into the valley below as the Savica Waterfall. A short way down-stream if flows into the broad and deep glaciated lake of Bohinj. The source of the Sava Dolinka rises as a spring from the Zelenci upland marsh, which is itself set in the bed of a broad glaciated valley located in the far northwestern corner of the country. A short way down-stream the brook forms a small, clear water pool.

The Savica Waterfall

The Savica is the most frequently visited waterfall in Slovenia. It drops 72 metres from a characteristic fault line in the lower part of the Komarča Cliffs into a deep pool enlarged with the dam for hydroelectric power plant.

The Zelenci Marsh

Subterranean water form the broad catchment area around the Tamar Valley, Rateče and Podkoren, surface as the blue-green lakes on the Zelenci Marsh which in turn from the source of the Sava Dolinka river. Zelenci, which has been designated a nature reserve, is an important habitat for highland marsh flora and fauna.

Ljubljanica

Flowing underground through several cave system for more than 20 kilometers of its course, the Ljubljanica is the most interesting of all Slovene rivers. It has two karstic sources - the Cerknica and Pivka rivers, which converge in a subterranean confluence deep within the Planina Cave (Planinska jama), a few kilometres to the northeast of Postojna. Just to the east the very interesting and picturesque Rakov Škocjan: an "underground" river valley which is gradually appearing into the light of day due to the collapse of vast subterranean caverns. The Ljubljanica, an affluent of the Sava reemerges for the final time at Vrhnika, then meanders across the Ljubljana Marsh and through the centre of the nation's capital.

Krka

The Krka, the "beauty of Dolenjska", crosses during its 111 km journey the entire Dolenjska region before becoming a tributary of the Sava river near the town of Brežice. Its source emanates from a cave at the end of a broad flat valley near the village of Krka. The Krka greatest attraction are its numerous tufa waterfalls, formed through the precipitated deposit of carbonates which saturate the waters of this stream. This most attractive of rivers, which gets quite warm during the summer, attracts multitudes of visitors who come here to stroll, swim and fish. The river is also eminently suitable for the less demanding forms of boating. In its lower reaches are two midstream islands, Kostanjevica and Otočec, both of which are interesting and popular tourist attractions. It also imparts characteristic looks to the town of Novo mesto.

Kolpa

The Kolpa has created several gorges which are more than 200 metres deep in its upper course, and the demanding rapids near the village of Osilnica attract experienced canoeists from all corners of the world. Boating, fishing, swimming and camping are the predominant forms of recreation in this spectacular valley.

Drava

It is a river of extreme contrasts and something of an alpine shrew which has been tamed to obtain electrical energy by a long series of dams in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. It helps create the characteristic vistas of the numerous towns and villages which lie along it, in particularly Ptuj, Slovenia' oldest town.

Mura

The course of the broad river Mura, has over the course of history been at the centre of many stories and legends. These days its bed is for the most part regulated. The oxbow lakes which are the remnants of its former meanders have become interesting habitats for a number of rare animal and plant species. Once upon the time, before the advent of hydroelectric power, there were lots of water-powered flour mills along the Mura. The renovated Babič Mill at Veržej is one of the few remaining reminders of this bygone era.

Soča

Foreign naturalists are also of the unanimous opinion that the Soča is one of the five most beautiful Alpine rivers which have retained their picturesque originality.

The beauty of the Soča is enhanced by its milky blue-green colour, very deep river troughs and valleys, waterfalls, boulders, river terraces and the breathtaking magnificence of the surrounding mountains.

The Soča rises in the high Julian Alps of northwestern Slovenia. Its waterfalls are limited to the source of the river and its early tributaries, - from the Boka Waterfall to the Gregorčič Falls as well as the falls on the Možnica stream.

This geologically recent glaciated alpine valley, together with its deep tributary valleys and gorges (Trenta, Mlinarica, Zadnjica, Vrstnik, Lepena, Koritnica, Možnica) has cut into the midst of the chains and ridges of the Julian Alps. The river and its valley are characterized by a diversity of species in a region where characteristic alpine and sub-Mediterranean influences blend.

The valley and the river bed of the Soča are fast becoming a big attraction for those wishing to engage in active forms of recreation, especially fishing, camping and various types of boating. The steep upper sections of this untamed alpine river attract canoeists from all over the world and rafting is also becoming increasingly popular. At Gorizia the Soča is joined by the Vipava river, and after passing briefly through Italian territory it flows into the Adriatic Sea.

Abstract from the book "Vode v Sloveniji" / "Waters of Slovenia", text by Dr Dušan Plut, photographs by Matevž Lenarčič, (Nazarje): EPSI, 1995